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'LIBRARY 


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;  page  12 

•THE    SOLDIER'S    LEAP" -GORGE    IN    THE    ANDES,    ACROSS    WHICH     ONE 

OF    O'HIGGINSS    CAVALRY    LEAPED    HIS    HORSE    TO    ESCAPE 

THE    ROYALISTS. 


ri 


THROUGH 
SOUTH  AMERICA 


BY 


HARRY  WESTON  YAN  DYKE 


WITH    INTRODUCTION    BY 

JOHN    BARRETT 

DIRECTOR-GENERAL  OF  THE  PAN  AMERICAN  UNION 


NEW   YORK 

THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


COPYRIGHT,  1912, 
BY  THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  COMPANY. 


Published  October,  1912. 


TO 
MY    FRIEND 

JOHN    BARRETT 

IN    TOKEN    OF    MY    ESTEEM    AND    MY    APPRECIATION    OF 
HIS    MANY    KINDNESSES 


INTRODUCTION 

BY  HON.  JOHN  BARRETT,  DIRECTOR-GENERAL,  OF 
THE  PAN  AMERICAN  UNION  AND  FORMERLY 
UNITED  STATES  MINISTER  TO  ARGENTINA,  PANA- 
MA, AND  COLOMBIA 

I  HAVE  real  pleasure  in  complying  with 
the  suggestion  that  I  should  write  an  in- 
troduction to  this  interesting  and  instruc- 
tive work  by  Mr.  Harry  Weston  Van  Dyke. 
As  it  was  through  me  that  he  was  led  to  make 
his  studies  and  investigations  which  resulted 
in  the  preparing  of  this  book,  I  naturally  find 
much  gratification  in  the  success  with  which 
he  has  handled  the  responsibility.  No  one  can 
read  his  travel  story  of  South  America  with- 
out being  impressed  with  the  importance  of 
these  countries,  the  enjoyment  and  value  of 
visiting  them,  and  the  advantage  of  the  devel- 
opment of  closer  relations  between  all  of  them 
and  the  United  States. 

As  the  executive  officer  of  the  Pan  Amer- 
ican   Union,    an    international    organization 

vii 


INTRODUCTION 

maintained  in  Washington  by  all  the  Ameri- 
can republics,  twenty-one  in  number,  includ- 
ing the  United  States,  for  the  advancement  of 
commerce,  friendship,  and  peace  among  them 
all,  it  is  my  lot  to  realize,  possibly  better  than 
any  one  else,  the  remarkable  growth  of  inter- 
est which  is  being  manifested  now,  not  only 
throughout  the  United  States  but  in  all  parts 
of  the  world,  in  the  countries  of  the  southern 
portions  of  the  American  continent  commonly 
classed  as  Latin  America. 

When  the  Pan  American  Union  was  re- 
organized about  five  years  ago,  and  it  be- 
gan an  active  propaganda  for  making  the 
twenty  Latin  American  republics  better 
known  in  the  United  States,  and  correspond- 
ingly, the  United  States  better  known 
among  them,  there  was  little  cause  for  en- 
couragement. The  average  newspaper  editor, 
the  man  in  public  life,  the  manufacturer, 
the  exporter,  the  importer,  the  traveler,  and 
the  student  seemed  to  be  largely  absorbed 
in  studying  and  watching  the  development  of 
our  commercial  relations  with  Europe  and 
the  Orient,  and  not  with  Latin  America.  The 
persistent  and  continued  effort,  however,  of 
the  Pan  American  Union  in  educating  the 

viii 


INTRODUCTION 

world  to  the  importance  of  the  Latin  Amer- 
ican countries  and  to  an  appreciation  of  the 
commercial  opportunities  and  moral  respon- 
sibilities of  the  United  States  in  its  relations 
with  them,  has  now  resulted  in  a  complete 
change  of  conditions  which  is  indeed  gratify- 
ing. To-day  the  manufacturers  and  mer- 
chants in  all  parts  of  the  world,  the  editors  of 
American  and  European  and  even  Asiatic 
newspapers,  special  writers  on  foreign  sub- 
jects, lecturers,  members  of  Congress,  pro- 
fessors and  students  in  universities  and  col- 
leges, librarians,  professional  and  amateur 
travelers  are  corresponding  with  the  Pan 
American  Union  or  visiting  its  headquarters 
in  order  to  gain  accurate  information  about 
the  Latin  American  republics. 

As  an  illustration  of  this  growth  of  in- 
terest a  few  comparisons  can  be  made.  Five 
years  ago  the  total  number  of  printed  re- 
ports, pamphlets,  and  other  publications 
distributed  by  the  Pan  American  Union  was 
approximately  one  hundred  thousand.  This 
year,  the  total  will  approximate  nearly  one 
million.  None  of  these  have  been  sent 
broadcast  in  a  careless  way.  Five  years 
ago  there  was  little  or  no  demand  for 

ix 


INTRODUCTION 

the  "Monthly  Bulletin"  of  the  Pan  Amer- 
ican Union;  now  the  demand  for  it  is  greater 
than  can  be  supplied.  Then  it  was  an  unin- 
teresting public  document;  to-day  it  is  an 
attractive  and  instructive  illustrated  maga- 
zine, descriptive  of  the  progress  and  develop- 
ment of  the  American  nations.  Five  years 
ago  the  Pan  American  Union  was  housed  in 
a  small  building,  used  formerly  as  a  private 
dwelling,  on  the  corner  of  Lafayette  Square 
and  Pennsylvania  Avenue;  to-day  it  occupies 
a  building  which  a  great  French  architect  has 
described  as  combining  beauty  and  utility 
better  than  any  other  public  building  of  its 
cost  in  the  world. 

The  library  of  the  Pan  American  Union, 
which  is  a  practical  collection  of  books  useful 
to  all  persons  who  wish  to  study  those  coun- 
tries, has  been  increased  from  twelve  thousand 
to  twenty-three  thousand  volumes,  while  its 
collection  of  photographs  has  grown  from 
one  thousand  to  eleven  thousand. 

During  this  same  period  the  foreign  com- 
merce of  Latin  America  has  grown  from 
one  billion  seven  hundred  million  dollars 
($1,700,000,000)  to  two  billion  three  hundred 
million  dollars  ($2,300,000,000).  Of  this,  the 


INTRODUCTION 

share  of  the  United  States  has  increased  from 
less  than  five  hundred  million  dollars  ($500- 
000,000)  to  nearly  seven  hundred  million  dol- 
lars ($700,000,000). 

The  total  annual  contributions  of  all  the 
American  republics,  including  the  United 
States,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Pan  Amer- 
ican Union  in  1906  was  $54,000;  now  the  to- 
tal of  their  quotas  for  support  approximates 
$125,000. 

All  these  facts  I  mention,  not  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  Pan  American  Union  especially, 
but  to  emphasize  with  actual  truth  the  evi- 
dences of  the  growth  of  interest  throughout 
the  world  in  the  countries  which  are  described 
in  part  by  Mr.  Van  Dyke  in  this  practical 
volume.  If  its  reading  stimulates  further  in- 
terest in  them,  the  Pan  American  Union  will 
be  only  too  glad  to  furnish  any  information 
in  its  power. 

While  this  book  will  perhaps  be  most  ap- 
preciated by  persons  who  are  contemplating 
a  visit  to  Latin  America,  it  should  be  read  by 
all  those  who  wish  to  know  more  of  what  the 
American  nations  aside  from  the  United 
States  are  doing.  What  is  their  interesting 
history,  what  are  their  resources,  what  are 

xi 


INTRODUCTION 

the  characteristics  of  their  peoples,  what  is 
the  progress  being  made  by  them  in  national 
and  municipal  government,  in  education,  and 
in  solving  social  and  economic  problems? 
Most  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  and 
even  of  Europe  have  been  so  absorbed  in  their 
own  histories,  development,  and  general  prog- 
ress that  they  have  given  little  attention  to 
the  twenty  republics  of  southern  America. 
After  reading  Mr.  Van  Dyke's  story  they 
cannot  fail  to  appreciate  that  there  are  other 
important  nations  and  peoples  in  the  world 
than  those  of  northern  America,  Europe, 
and  Asia. 

Possibly  a  few  general  facts  may  be  men- 
tioned here  which  will  enable  the  reader  bet- 
ter to  appreciate  what  follows  in  the  chapters 
of  this  book.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the 
twenty  republics  lying  south  of  the  United 
States  in  the  Western  Hemisphere  occupy  an 
area  of  nine  million  square  miles.  This  is 
three  times  greater  than  the  connected  area 
of  the  United  States.  Their  total  population 
now  exceeds  seventy  millions.  This  is  seven- 
ninths  of  the  total  population  of  the  United 
States.  Their  foreign  trade — and  commerce 
is  often  called  the  life  blood  of  nations — now 

xii 


.    V 

INTRODUCTION 

exceeds  two  billion  three  hundred  million  dol- 
lars ($2,300,000,000)  a  year,  which  in  turn 
represents  an  increase  of  nearly  one  billion 
dollars  ($1,000,000,000)  during  the  last  ten 
years.  Nearly  all  of  these  countries  secured 
their  independence  under  the  leadership  of 
generals  and  patriots  who  were  inspired  by 
the  example  of  George  Washington.  Nearly 
all  of  them  have  written  their  constitutions 
with  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  as 
their  example.  All  of  them  to-day  are  watch- 
ing the  United  States  in  its  efforts  to  solve  its 
endless  variety  of  social  and  economic  prob- 
lems, and  they  will  profit  by  the  example 
which  the  United  States  sets  them. 

They  are  not  to  be  classed  as  lands  of  revo- 
lution, because  two-thirds  of  all  Latin  Amer- 
ica has  known  practically  no  revolution  dur- 
ing the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years.  The 
revolutions  which  occurred  should  possibly  be 
called  evolutions,  and  are  efforts  of  their  peo- 
ples, even  though  sometimes  crude,  to  im- 
prove their  permanent  conditions  of  prosper- 
ity and  progress.  They  are  not  by  any 
means  solely  "tropical  lands,"  as  is  often  sup- 
posed or  as  may  be  judged  from  a  glance  at 
the  map.  The  great  southern  section  of 

xiii 


INTRODUCTION 

South  America,  including  southern  Brazil, 
Uruguay,  Argentina,  Chile,  and  a  large  sec- 
tion of  Bolivia,  are  in  the  South  Temperate 
Zone,  where  they  have  climatic  conditions  cor- 
responding to  those  of  the  United  States. 
The  countries,  moreover,  which  are  actually 
under  or  near  the  equator  have  a  mingling  of 
high  lands  with  low  lands  which  means  much 
for  their  future  development.  There  are  high 
plateaux  ranging  from  three  thousand  to 
twelve  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  covering 
oftentimes  individual  areas  as  large  as  that  of 
Connecticut  or  Massachusetts,  where  the  cli- 
mate the  year  round  is  like  that  of  New  Eng- 
land in  June  or  September  and  where  the 
white  man  can  live  in  corresponding  climatic 
comfort. 

Although,  because  of  the  slight  seasonal 
changes,  the  average  temperature  of  the  low- 
lying  lands  of  the  tropical  sections  is  some- 
what trying  to  the  resident  of  northern  bring- 
ing up,  yet  under  the  influence  of  modern 
methods  of  sanitation  and  practical  meth- 
ods of  living,  they  are  being  transformed 
into  healthful  sections  of  growing  population, 
commerce,  and  influence.  The  example  which 
the  United  States  has  set  at  Panama,  and 

xiv 


INTRODUCTION 

the  demonstration  which  this  government  is 
giving  there  of  the  possibility  of  white  men 
thriving  in  the  tropics,  is  having  its  influence 
throughout  the  tropical  belt  of  our  sister  re- 
publics and  great  changes  are  resulting. 

The  approaching  completion  and  opening 
of  the  Panama  Canal  gives  a  special  interest 
to  this  work  of  Mr.  Van  Dyke's.  Only  the 
person  who  has  thoroughly  studied  what  the 
Panama  Canal  means,  its  effect  not  only  upon 
the  commerce  of  the  world  but  upon  the  com- 
merce and  influence  of  the  United  States,  and 
what  it  will  do  for  the  Latin  American 
countries,  as  well  as  for  the  United  States,  can 
appreciate  fully  how  important  to  the  future 
of  the  relations  of  North  and  South  America 
is  the  completion  of  this  mighty  waterway. 
Its  opening  should  be  followed  not  only  by 
a  great  development  of  the  export  trade  of 
the  United  States  to  those  countries  but  of 
their  export  trade  to  this  country.  It  should 
cause  a  remarkable  increase  in  the  travel  be- 
tween North  and  South  America.  There  is 
no  better  influence  for  commerce  and  friend- 
ship than  that  of  mutual  acquaintance  of  peo- 
ples of  different  countries.  When  the  Canal 
"s  completed  there  should  be  a  great  increase 

XV 


INTRODUCTION 

in  the  number  of  North  Americans  going  to 
South  America  and  of  South  Americans  com- 
ing to  the  North. 

When  the  shipping  of  the  world  goes 
through  the  Canal,  it  will  have  direct  access 
to  a  remarkable  coast  line  which  heretofore 
has  been  so  isolated  that  it  could  only  be 
reached  from  the  eastern  part  of  the  United 
States  and  the  western  part  of  Europe  by 
the  long  journey  around  South  America.  The 
coast  line  which  is  made  immediately  acces- 
sible by  the  Canal  reaches  for  eight  thousand 
miles  from  the  California-Mexican  line  south 
to  Cape  Horn,  three  thousand  miles  from 
Panama  northwest  to  San  Diego  in  Califor- 
nia and  five  thousand  miles  south  from  Pan- 
ama to  Punta  Arenas.  This  coast,  without 
the  Canal  and  in  its  isolated  position,  con- 
ducts now  an  average  foreign  commerce  val- 
ued at  four  hundred  million  dollars  ($400,- 
000,000).  With  the  opening  of  the  Canal 
this  should  be  doubled  or  trebled  in  the  next 
ten  years.  It  is  a  safe  prediction  that  the 
Panama  Canal  will  have  the  same  influence 
upon  the  western  shore,  comprising  the  fol- 
lowing countries:  Mexico,  Salvador,  Nica- 
ragua, Costa  Rica,  Panama,  Colombia,  Ecua- 

xvi 


INTRODUCTION 

dor,  Peru,  Bolivia,  and  Chile,  which  the  con- 
struction of  the  transcontinental  railways  had 
upon  the  Pacific  coast  of  the  United  States. 
The  fact  that  their  population  and  their  com- 
mercial and  industrial  development  to-day  is 
somewhat  limited  is  no  argument  against 
their  possibilities  in  the  future.  There  was  a 
time  when  the  best  experts  and  judges  in 
the  public  and  official  life  of  the  United  States 
declared  that  the  Pacific  coast  of  the  United 
States  was  not  only  of  little  value  but  never 
would  be  of  great  consequence.  There  were, 
however,  some  wise  men  like  Seward  who 
recognized  the  mighty  potentialities  of  our 
Pacific  coasts  and  of  the  Pacific  seas.  There 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  western  or 
Pacific  Latin  America,  in  view  of  its  varie- 
ties of  resources  and  climate,  will,  under  the 
influence  of  the  Panama  Canal,  experience  a 
development  and  progress  that  will  astonish 
the  world. 

In  conclusion,  a  word  can  be  added  of  per- 
sonal appreciation  of  our  sister  republics 
which  I  believe  will  be  shared  by  all  those 
who  read  this  book  and  later  visit  Latin 
America  and  study  carefully  its  possibilities 
and  potentialities.  It  was  my  privilege,  be- 

xvii 


INTRODUCTION 

fore  being  elected  by  the  vote  of  all  these 
countries  to  the  position  of  Director- General 
of  the  Pan  American  Union  five  years  ago, 
to  have  served  as  Minister  of  the  United 
States  in  such  representative  countries  of 
South  America  as  Argentina,  Panama,  and 
Colombia.  My  association  with  the  officials 
and  the  rank  and  file  of  the  peoples  of  these 
countries,  and  my  travels  both  in  a  public 
and  private  capacity  throughout  the  Latin 
American  countries,  have  developed  in  me  a 
regard  for  them  that  approaches  real  affec- 
tion. The  more  I  have  learned  and  seen  of 
them,  the  more  I  have  admired  them.  They 
have  their  faults  and  weaknesses,  as  have  the 
government  and  the  people  of  the  United 
States;  but  they  have  a  great  many  virtues 
and  numerous  favorable  features  which  are 
top  often  overlooked  by  the  critics  who  have 
not  studied  Latin  America  from  a  sympa- 
thetic standpoint. 

If  we  of  the  United  States  will  remem- 
ber that  they  are  our  sister  republics,  that 
they  gained  their  independence  under  our 
example,  that  they  have  written  their  con- 
stitutions upon  that  of  the  United  States, 
and  that  they  will  learn  to  love  or  hate  us  ac- 

xviii 


INTRODUCTION 

cording  as  our  attitude  is  that  of  sympathy 
and  love  or  of  selfishness  and  material  con- 
cern, we  shall  in  turn  gain  their  confidence 
and  sympathy  and  they  will  join  with  us  in 
that  spirit  of  Pan  American  unity  and  of 
solidarity  which  will  make  the  Western  Hemi- 
sphere the  world's  leader  in  civilization,  in 
business,  and  in  enduring  friendship  among 
all  nations. 


BAEBETT. 

WASHINGTON,  June  1,    1912. 


xix 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  HISTORICAL  SKETCH 1 

II.  BRAZIL 133 

III.  ARGENTINA  . 190 

IV.  URUGUAY 228 

V.  PARAGUAY 239 

VI.  BOLIVIA 257 

VII.  CHILE  275 

VIII.  PERU 314 

IX.  ECUADOR  352 

X.  COLOMBIA 375 

XI.  VENEZUELA 400 

XII.  THE  GUIANAS 424 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 429 

INDEX .  433 


xxi 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

"The  Soldier's  Leap" Frontispiece 

OPPOSITE  PAGE 

Map  of  South  America 1 

Francisco  Pizarro 38 

Inca  Burial  Tower  near  Lake  Titicaca  ...  56 
Cloisters  of  Dominican  Monastery,  Cuzco  ...  56 
Cathedral  at  Lima,  built  by  Pizarro  ....  76 
Pizarro's  Palace,  Lima — Now  the  Government 

Building 90 

San  Martin's  Passage  of  the  Andes 126 

Statue  of  Bolivar,  in  Lima 132 

The  City  of  Bahia 156 

Botafogo  Bay,  Rio  Harbor  .     .  between  162  and  163 

Bay  and  City  of  Rio  de  Janeiro 166 

Avenue  of  Royal  Palms,  Rio  Botanical  Gardens    170 

Avenida  Central,  Rio  de  Janeiro 170 

Coffee  Plantation,  Brazil 184 

Colon  Theater,  Buenos  Aires 204 

Federal  Capitol,  Buenos  Aires 204 

Jockey  Club's  Grand  Stand  at  Race  Track    .     .210 

Prize  Winners  from  "the  Camp" 216 

xxiii 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

OPPOSITE  PAGE 

The  Uspallata  Pass       .     '. 222 

Iguazu  Falls 226 

Soils  Theater,  Montevideo 232 

Cagancha  Plaza,  Montevideo 232 

Government  Palace,  Asuncion 242 

View  of  Asuncion  and  River  Paraguay  .  .  .  242 
Shrine  of  Our  Lady  of  Capacabana  ....  266 
Town  and  Mountain  of  Potosi,  Bolivia  ....  266 

Church  of  the  Conservidas,  La  Paz 272 

Old  Spanish  Residence,  La  Paz 272 

Punta  Arenas       . 312 

Plaza  Mayor,  Lima 326 

Scene  on  the  Oroya  Railway 330 

Church  of  La  Merced,  Lima 350 

Street  Scene  in  Guayaquil     .     .     .     .     .     .     .362 

Condor  of  the  Andes 362 

Room  in  Old  Palace  at  Quito 374 

Overlooking  Bogota 386 

A  Posada  or  Country  Inn 392 

Battlemented  Wall,  Cartagena 392 

View  of  Maracaibo 404 

A  Coffee  Plantation,  Venezuela  ......  414 


XXIV 


SOUTH  AMERICA 


Through    South    America 

i 

HISTORICAL    SKETCH 


A  LITTLE  more  than  four  hundred 
years  ago,  when  Europe  was  emer- 
ging from  the  darkness  of  the  Middle 
Ages  into  the  era  of  printed  books,  when 
the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold  had  impressed 
the  official  stamp  of  culture  on  her  civiliza- 
tion, when  gunpowder  was  changing  the  as- 
pect of  war — in  an  age  that  produced  such 
intellects  as  those  of  Machiavelli,  Copernicus, 
Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  Cardinal  Wolsey, 
and  John  Werner — wise  men  were  still 
groping  blindly  for  knowledge  about  the 
world  in  which  they  lived  that  is  regarded  as 
elementary  by  the  school  children  of  our  day. 
What  was  its  shape?  What  lay  beyond  the 
western  horizon  of  the  Atlantic,  the  vast  and 
stormy  Mare  Tenebrosum  of  fabled  terror 

1 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

to  mariners  ?  What  was  south  of  the  African 
countries  bordering  the  Mediterranean  ?  How 
far  east  did  Asia  extend?  No  one  knew. 

In  the  year  150  A.D.,  the  learned  Alexan- 
drian Claudius  Ptolemy  had  made  a  map  of 
Europe  and  of  those  parts  of  Asia  and  Af- 
rica which  were  then  known,  or  supposed  to 
exist;  and  on  that  map,  for  the  first  time  in 
history,  the  world  was  represented  as  a  sphere 
— though  a  stationary  one.  Therefore,  spec- 
ulated those  who  thought  about  it  at  all,  as- 
suming Ptolemy's  theory  to  be  correct,  how 
could  a  mariner,  even  were  he  successful  in 
navigating  his  vessel  down  the  awful  decliv- 
ity on  one  side  of  the  globe,  hope  to  make  it 
climb  up  again  on  the  other?  How  could  he 
cross  the  equator,  which  Aristotle  and  Pliny 
had  declared  was  an  uninhabitable  zone,  so 
torrid  that  the  earth  around  was  burnt  up  as 
with  fire  and  only  marine  salamanders,  if 
such  monsters  existed,  could  live  in  the  super- 
heated waters?  And,  even  if  the  equator 
were  passable,  how  could  the  frightful  abysses 
into  which  the  ocean  was  supposed  to  dis- 
charge itself  at  the  pole  be  escaped? 

Some  time  in  the  sixth  century  a  monk 
named  Cosmas  had  attempted  to  answer 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

these  questions  by  means  of  a  theory  evolved 
from  a  study  of  the  Bible  and  more  consistent 
with  its  descriptions  and  metaphors.  In  the 
map  he  made,  the  world  was  represented  as  a 
level  rectangle,  its  sides  composed  of  blue 
walls,  supporting  a  dome  that  separated  the 
mortal  domain  from  the  Paradise  where  dwelt 
the  Creator  and  his  angels;  and,  fanciful  as 
was  this  cosmos  of  Cosmas'  devising,  his  map 
was  regarded  as  the  standard  of  geographical 
knowledge  down  to  the  time  of  Columbus. 
Even  after  his  time  the  famous  astronomer 
Galileo  was  imprisoned  as  a  heretic  partly  for 
reasserting  the  theory  of  Ptolemy.  No  one 
but  a  few  scientists  even  imagined  that  the 
east  could  be  reached  by  sailing  west ;  no  one, 
not  even  they,  yet  knew  that  Africa  could 
be  circumnavigated  and  the  treasures  of 
gorgeous  Far  Cathay  (as  China  was  then 
called)  brought  to  Europe's  doors  by  water. 
Yet  it  was  to  accomplish  that  very  object 
that  the  series  of  voyages  was  begun  that  led 
eventually  to  the  discovery  of  America. 

Venice  and  Genoa,  grown  rich  and  power- 
ful through  trade  with  India  and  the  nearer 
countries  of  the  Orient,  had  for  a  space  en- 
joyed a  prosperity  and  revival  of  culture  that 

3 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

were  felt  throughout  Christendom.  Then  had 
come  the  conquest  of  Spain  and  domination 
of  the  Mediterranean  by  the  Moors,  and, 
afterward,  the  wars  of  the  Crusades,  which 
had  checked  the  Saracen  advance  but  inter- 
rupted all  other  commerce  with  the  infidels. 
Meanwhile,  as  though  to  compensate  for  this 
loss,  the  great  Mongolian  conqueror  Genghis 
Khan  had  fulfilled  his  remarkable  destiny 
and,  instead  of  adopting  measures  to  prevent 
it,  invited  western  intercourse  with  the  coun- 
tries he  had  brought  under  his  sway,  and 
China,  about  which  almost  nothing  was  then 
generally  known,  was  visited  overland  by 
traders,  adventurers,  and  missionaries.  Marco 
Polo,  a  Venetian,  after  spending  more  than 
twenty  years  in  the  far  east,  part  of  the  time 
in  the  service  of  the  Great  Khan  Kubilay, 
had  returned  by  way  of  India  and  Per- 
sia, laden  with  jewels  of  enormous  value,  and 
had  written  a  book  descriptive  of  the  coun- 
tries he  had  seen  and  the  wealth  and  customs 
of  the  people.  In  the  fourteenth  century, 
when  the  Mongolian  dynasty  was  overthrown, 
the  Asiatics  had  again  turned  hostile  and  the 
land  route  was  closed. 

But  during  this  open  season  it  had  become 
4 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

known  that  Cathay  was  not  the  end  of  the 
world,  as  had  been  supposed — that  there  was 
an  ocean  beyond  and  the  wonderful  Island  of 
Cipango  (Japan)  and  other  islands  rich  in 
spices  and  costly  products;  and  Europe  be- 
gan to  wonder,  since  the  Tartars  barred  the 
route  by  land,  whether  these  desirable  places 
might  not  be  accessible  by  water.  "Between 
wondering  and  the  attempt,"  says  Haw- 
thorne, "there  was  a  considerable  interval, 
for  the  idea  was  too  novel  to  be  digested  all 
at  once.  But  it  was  an  age  of  unbridled  li- 
cense of  imagination  and  of  desperate  cour- 
age. .  The  mere  possibility  of  encountering 
perils  never  until  then  conceived  of  was 
allurement  enough,  as,  even  to-day,  our 
young  adventurers  go  forth  to  die  on  the  ice 
fields  of  the  north  and  south  poles,  or  in  the 
mysterious  heart  of  savage  Africa,  or  on  the 
ghastly  plateaux  of  Tibet.  In  addition, 
there  were  the  fabulous  rewards  that  success 
seemed  to  promise." 

At  first,  though,  if  the  plan  of  sailing  west 
was  even  thought  of,  it  would  seem  to  have 
been  regarded  as  less  feasible  than  that  of 
rounding  Africa.  Prince  Henry,  a  son  of 
King  John  I  of  Portugal — for  it  was  the 

5 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Portuguese,  not  the  Spanish,  who  were  the 
pioneers  in  this  series  of  discoveries — deter- 
mined to  devote  his  life  to  the  work.  Retir- 
ing from  the  splendors  of  the  Lisbon  court, 
he  built  an  astronomical  observatory  on  the 
promontory  of  Sagres  (in  southern  Portu- 
gal), extended  its  hospitalities  to  all  the  wise 
men  of  the  age  and  sent  out  expedition  after 
expedition  to  the  south.  "Until  then,"  says 
Dawson,  "nautical  knowledge  was  very 
meager.  The  compass  served  only  to  indi- 
cate direction,  not  distance  or  position,  and 
did  not  suffice  for  the  systematic  navigation 
of  the  open  Atlantic.  The  Portuguese  first 
made  that  possible  by  using  astronomical  ob- 
servations and  inventing  the  quadrant  and 
astrolabe." 

This  knowledge,  once  acquired,  was 
promptly  applied.  Madeira  was  discovered 
in  1418,  the  Canaries  in  1427,  the  Azores  in 
1432.  To  the  west  the  Portuguese  ventured 
no  farther,  but,  continuing  south,  they 
reached  Cape  Blanco  in  1441,  Senegambia 
and  Cape  Verde  in  1445,  the  Cape  Verde 
Islands  in  1460,  and  the  Gulf  of  Guinea  in 
1469.  In  1471  they  were  the  first  Europeans 
to  cross  the  equator.  The  idea  was  then  con- 

6 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

ceived  that  they  had  only  to  keep  on  and 
they  could  round  the  southern  extremity  of 
the  continent  and  reach  Abyssinia  and  India 
by  sea — a  hope  that  was  realized  in  1487 
when  Bartholomew  Dias  arrived  at  last  at  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  A  few  miles  beyond, 
however,  he  was  compelled  by  the  condition 
of  his  crew  to  return  and  it  remained  for  his 
compatriot  Vasco  da  Gama  some  years  later 
to  double  the  cape  and  complete  the  voyage 
up  the  eastern  coast  and  across  the  Indian 
Ocean  to  Hindustan. 


II 

The  significance  of  these  early  voyages 
of  the  Portuguese  lies  in  the  fact  that 
thereby  it  was  demonstrated  that  a  shorter 
route  was  needed — that  with  the  very  small 
and  badly  equipped  vessels  of  the  period 
the  trip  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  at 
least  for  commercial  purposes,  was  imprac- 
ticable; also  in  the  fact  that  with  Dias  had 
sailed  the  Genoese  navigator  Bartholomew 
Columbus,  a  brother  of  the  discoverer  of 
America. 

Years  before  that  first  great  achievement, 
7 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Christopher  Columbus — who  had  studied  at 
the  University  of  Pavia  and  had  himself 
taken  part  in  one  or  more  of  Prince  Henry's 
African  expeditions,  and  even  ventured  to  the 
northwest,  probably  as  far  as  Iceland — had 
been  converted  to  the  theory  that  the  world 
was  round  and  that  the  oceans  west  of  Eu- 
rope and  east  of  Cathay  were  the  same.  As 
a  consequence,  he  had  concluded,  the  East 
Indies  (as  India,  China,  Japan,  and  the  other 
countries  and  islands  east  of  the  Indian  Ocean 
were  indiscriminately  called)  could  be  reached 
from  Europe  by  sailing  west.  Eighteen  years 
before  he  was  finally  enabled  to  put  this  the- 
ory to  the  test,  he  had  written  Toscanelli, 
one  of  the  foremost  astronomers  of  the  time, 
asking  his  opinion  as  to  this  possibility.  Tos- 
canelli sent  him  a  copy  of  a  letter  he  had 
written  shortly  before  to  King  Alfonso  of 
Portugal  on  the  same  subject,  in  which  he 
said: 

"I  have  formerly  spoken  of  a  shorter  route  to  the 
places  of  spices  than  you  are  pursuing  by  Guinea. 
Although  I  am  well  aware  that  this  can  be  proved  by 
the  spherical  shape  of  the  earth,  in  order  to  make  the 
point  clearer  I  have  decided  to  exhibit  that  route 
by  means  of  a  sailing  chart,  made  by  my  own  hands, 
whereon  are  laid  down  your  coasts  and  the  islands 

8 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

from  which  you  must  begin  to  shape  your  course 
steadily  westward,  the  places  at  which  you  are  bound 
to  arrive  and  how  far  from  the  pole  or  equator  you 
ought  to  keep  away."  (Neither  in  the  chart  nor  in 
the  description  was  there  indication  of  anything  what- 
ever resembling  the  continents  of  North  and  South 
America.)  "From  the  city  of  Lisbon  as  far  as  the 
very  great  and  splendid  city  of  Quinsay"  (Pekin), 
he  continued,  "are  twenty-six  spaces,  each  of  250 
miles.  This  space  is  about  a  third  of  the  whole  sphere. 
But  from  the  Island  of  Antilia,  which  you  know,  to 
the  very  splendid  Island  of  Cipango"  (Japan)  "there 
are  ten  spaces.  So,  through  the  unknown  parts  of 
the  route,  the  stretches  of  sea  are  not  great." 

In  his  letter  to  Columbus  he  congratulates 
him  on  having  undertaken  an  enterprise — 

"Fraught  with  honor,  as  it  must  be,  and  inestimable 
gain  and  most  lofty  fame  among  all  Christian  peoples. 
It  will  be  a  voyage  to  powerful  kingdoms"  (he  pro- 
phetically added,  though  he  had  never  even  dreamed 
of  the  empires  of  the  Aztecs  and  the  Incas)  "and  to 
cities  and  provinces  most  wealthy  and  noble.  It  will 
also  be  advantageous  to  those  kings  and  princes  who 
are  eager  to  have  dealings  and  make  alliances  with 
the  Christians  of  other  countries.  For  these  and 
many  other  reasons,  I  do  not  wonder  that  you,  who  are 
of  great  courage,  and  the  whole  Portuguese  nation, 
which  has  always  had  men  distinguished  in  such 
enterprises,  are  now  inflamed  with  a  desire  to  make 
the  voyage." 

Thus  encouraged,  Columbus  began  his  ef- 
9 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

forts  to  secure  patronage  and  money  for  the 
expedition.  He  tried  in  his  birthplace,  Genoa, 
and  in  Portugal  and  Spain,  even  in  England, 
where  he  was  accompanied  by  his  brother 
Bartholomew  after  the  latter's  return  from 
the  voyage  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and 
suffered  many  refusals.  Toscanelli  had  been 
dead  eight  years  before  he  at  last  succeeded; 
and  then,  had  he  known  that  the  distance  from 
Lisbon  to  the  coast  of  Asia  was  in  fact  some 
13,000  miles,  or  twice  that  which  the  astron- 
omer had  estimated,  and  that,  even  so,  the 
route  straight  across  was  barred  by  the  Isth- 
mus of  Panama — had  he  known  that  Cathay 
did  not,  as  his  mentor  believed,  extend  some 
thousands  of  miles  farther  east  than  it  does, 
even  such  a  man  as  Columbus  might  have 
abandoned  the  project  as  chimerical  when  the 
cockleshells  then  available  for  ocean  travel 
were  taken  into  consideration.  Nor,  if  she 
too  had  not  been  misled  by  the  same  "val- 
uable pieces  of  ignorance,"  is  it  likely  that  his 
plea  would  have  prevailed  on  the  practical 
Isabella  of  Castile,  however  elated  and  invin- 
cible she  may  have  felt  over  the  taking  of 
the  last  of  the  Saracen  strongholds  at  Gra- 
nada and  the  expulsion  of  the  Moors  from 

10 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

Spain,  for  in  that  she  was  engaged  when  Co- 
lumbus finally  succeeded  in  securing  her  aid. 
Fortunately,  however,  whatever  might  have 
happened  if  Toscanelli  had  not  held  the  voy- 
age to  be  practicable,  Columbus  was  not  only 
a  man  of  indomitable  spirit  but  possessed  of 
a  presence  that  inspired  in  others  the  confi- 
dence he  felt  in  himself.  A  man  of  striking 
personality,  he  is  said  to  have  been  about 
forty-five  years  of  age  at  the  time,  tall,  well 
formed,  and  dignified,  with  sharp  gray  eyes, 
alight  with  "that  divine  spark  of  enthusiasm 
which  makes  true  genius,"  and  hair  prema- 
turely white.  And  so,  in  spite  of  his  many 
disheartening  failures,  he  did  not  abandon  the 
project;  so  also  was  Queen  Isabella  suffi- 
ciently impressed  by  his  learning  and  appear- 
ance to  agree,  in  consideration  of  a  fifth  share 
in  the  profits,  that  he  should  have  the  rank  of 
Admiral  and  govern,  as  Viceroy,  all  the  lands 
that  he  might  discover  and  bring  under  her 
dominion.  With  the  great  astronomer's  chart 
before  him,  therefore,  and  vowing  to  devote 
his  share  of  the  profits  to  the  rescue  of  the 
Holy  Sepulcher,  he  set  out  from  Palos, 
Spain,  on  the  3d  of  August,  1492.  His  ves- 
sels, the  Nina,  Pinta  (well  named  the  "Pint 

11 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Cup"),  and  Santa  Maria,  bore  a  company  of 
but  ninety,  including  the  crews. 

After  a  voyage  of  ten  weeks,  filled  with 
difficulties  and  hardships,  even  threats  of 
mutiny,  that  taxed  his  courage  and  diplomacy 
to  the  utmost,  he  came  to  land  on  an  island 
(now  known  as  Watling's)  on  the  outward 
bow  of  the  Bahamas,  to  which  he  gave  the 
name  of  San  Salvador.  The  wild  beauty  of 
the  foliage,  the  tropical  luxuriance,  the  clear, 
fresh-water  streams,  the  soft  climate  and  per- 
fume-laden breezes,  more  than  ever  delightful 
to  men  who  had  given  themselves  up  for  lost, 
and  the  natives  themselves,  bedecked  with 
gold  ornaments  and  dusky-skinned  as  those 
of  Cathay  were  said  to  be — all  seemed  what 
might  have  been  expected  in  the  outlying 
spice  islands  of  the  east.  So,  supposing  this 
to  be  one  of  those  islands  of  which  they  were 
in  quest,  the  adventurers  cruised  about  for 
ten  days  more  and  finally  arrived  at  Cuba, 
which  they  assumed  to  be  Cipango. 

In  his  infatuation,  Columbus  now  saw  his 
journey's  end.  He  had,  he  thought,  but  to 
sail  a  few  courses  farther  to  reach  the  main- 
land of  Cathay,  exchange  compliments  with 
the  Great  Khan  at  Quinsay,  and  return  in  tri- 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

umph  with  the  wealth  he  was  to  amass  and 
herald  the  news  of  his  wonderful  achievement 
to  a  skeptical  Europe.  And  all  the  while 
Cathay  was  ten  thousand  miles  away — due 
west!  Sailing  across  the  strait  to  Hayti,  he 
was  directed  south  by  the  natives  when  ques- 
tioned as  to  the  source  of  their  gold;  but 
there,  for  the  time  being,  his  explorations 
were  brought  to  an  end.  The  flagship  was 
wrecked  on  a  sand  bar  and  Pinzon,  captain 
of  one  of  the  remaining  two,  stole  treacher- 
ously away,  to  anticipate  the  Admiral  in  an- 
nouncing the  discoveries  in  Spain.  Leaving 
a  volunteer  colony  of  about  forty  men  to 
await  his  return  with  reinforcements,  how- 
ever, he  at  once  set  sail,  overtook  and  cap- 
tured the  deserters,  and,  on  the  way  back  to 
Palos,  was  driven  into  the  port  of  Lisbon  by 
a  gale. 

"The  news  of  his  exploit  set  all  Portugal 
afire,"  says  Hawthorne. 

"The  King  was  urged  to  have  Columbus  run 
through  the  body  and  to  appropriate  his  discovery ; 
but  John  II  perceived  that  there  was  more  peril  than 
profit  in  such  a  scheme,  and  he  invited  him  to  court 
and  made  much  of  him  instead.  In  due  time  he  re- 
sumed his  voyage  and  reached  Palos  on  the  15th 
of  March.  This  was  Columbus'  apogee.  He  was 

13 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

called  to  Barcelona  and  welcomed  in  triumph ;  he  was 
even  allowed  to  sit  down  in  the  august  presence  of 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  The  half  dozen  Caribs  he  had 
brought  with  him  were  assumed  to  be  East  Indians 
and  the  Admiral's  interpretation  of  his  discoveries 
was  accepted  without  question.  The  little  detail  that 
nothing  of  oriental  magnificence — no  Great  Khans,  no 
mighty  cities — had  yet  been  revealed,  was  passed  over. 
Land  had  been  found  and  it  could  be  nothing  but 
Cipango  and  Cathay.  The  short  route  to  the  Indies 
had  been  discovered  for  Spain." 


This  so  completely  overshadowed  all  that 
Portugal  had  accomplished  that  an  intense 
rivalry  sprang  up  between  the  two  powers. 
The  Pope,  as  the  Vicar  of  Christ  on  earth, 
and. accordingly  the  repository  of  the  title  to 
all  lands  still  occupied  by  infidel  peoples,  was 
appealed  to  to  confirm  the  discoveries  to 
Spain.  He  issued  a  bull  granting  to  His 
Most  Catholic  Majesty  the  lands  then,  and 
such  as  might  thereafter  be,  discovered  in  the 
western  sea,  and  to  the  Portuguese  such  as 
they  might  discover  by  way  of  the  African 
route.  This  was  supplemented  by  a  second 
to  the  effect  that  only  those  lands  lying  west 
of  a  meridian  of  longitude  a  hundred  miles 
west  of  the  Azores  and  Cape  Verde  Islands 
should  belong  to  the  Spaniards.  Dissatisfied 

14 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

even  with  that  division,  the  Portuguese  de- 
manded a  line  still  farther  west,  and,  by  a 
treaty  signed  at  Tordesillas  in  June,  1494, 
Spain  agreed  that  it  should  be  advanced  in 
that  direction  370  leagues.  This  resulted 
eventually  in  giving  Portugal  title  to  the  then 
yet  undiscovered  country  of  Brazil. 

Meanwhile,  on  the  25th  of  September, 
1493,  Columbus  set  out  on  his  second  expedi- 
tion— this  time  with  seventeen  ships  and  fif- 
teen hundred  men,  among  them  his  brothers 
Bartholomew  and  Diego  and  many  adventur- 
ers of  noble  rank,  for  there  was  no  lack  either 
of  men  or  money  now.  "Their  dreams," 
Professor  Fiske  tell  us,  "were  of  the  marble 
palaces  of  Quinsay,  of  islands  of  spices  and 
the  treasures  of  the  mythical  Prester  John. 
The  sovereigns  wept  for  joy  as  they  thought 
that  such  untold  riches  were  vouchsafed  them 
as  a  reward  for  having  overcome  the  Moor  at 
Granada.  Columbus  shared  these  views  and 
regarded  himself  as  a  special  instrument  for 
executing  the  divine  decrees.  He  renewed  his 
vow  to  rescue  the  Holy  Sepulcher,  promising 
within  seven  years  to  equip,  at  his  own  ex- 
pense, a  crusading  army  of  fifty  thousand  foot 
and  four  thousand  horse."  When  the  fleet 

15 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

arrived  at  Hayti  and  the  company  landed  at 
the  place  where  the  little  colony  had  been  left, 
it  was  found  that  it  had  been  annihilated. 
Not  a  whit  dismayed  by  that,  however,  Co- 
lumbus ordered  a  town  to  be  built  and  the 
island,  which  he  named  Espanola  (Little 
Spain),  became  the  base  of  hundreds  of  ex- 
ploring expeditions  undertaken  by  the  hordes 
of  adventurers  that  followed  in  his  wake  and 
soon  overran  the  neighboring  islands. 

Columbus  himself  made  two  other  voy- 
ages, in  the  course  of  which  he  discovered  Ja- 
maica and  the  Island  of  Trinidad  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Orinoco,  reached  the  southern 
shores  of  Cuba,  and,  having  heard  rumors 
of  another  ocean  to  the  west,  coasted  along 
the  Central  American  mainland  in  search  of 
a  passage  through.  There  he  found  stone 
houses  and  towns  and  what  appeared  to  be  a 
semi-civilized  people,  who  wore  clothes  and 
knew  how  to  weave  cotton,  embalm  their 
dead,  and  carve  ornaments  on  their  tombs, 
and  who  had  plenty  of  gold ;  and  all  this  only 
confirmed  his  conviction  that  he  was  drawing 
nearer  the  countries  of  his  quest.  During  this 
period,  however,  his  fame  was  in  turn  over- 
shadowed by  that  of  Vasco  da  Gama,  who 

16 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

had  at  last  succeeded  in  discovering  the  Af- 
rican route  to  the  Orient  and  had  actually 
seen  some  of  those  spice  islands  and  mighty 
cities  that  Columbus  was  still  only  searching 
for  on  the  other  side  of  the  world  so  many 
thousands  of  miles  away. 

In  1506,  soon  after  his  return  from  his 
fourth  expedition,  he  died  at  Valladolid,  dis- 
credited and  defrauded  of  his  viceregal  pow- 
ers, a  victim  of  treachery,  jealousy,  and  in- 
trigue, yet  still  believing  that  he  had  found 
the  western  route  to  the  Indies.  Even  then 
"nobody  had  the  faintest  idea  of  what  he  had 
accomplished,"  says  Professor  Fiske.  "Noth- 
ing like  it  was  ever  done  before  and  nothing 
like  it  can  ever  be  done  again.  No  worlds 
are  left  for  future  Columbuses  to  conquer. 
The  era  of  which  this  great  Italian  was  the 
most  illustrious  representative  had  closed  for- 
ever." 

in 

Having,  in  the  interval  between  the  sec- 
ond Columbian  expedition  and  the  discovery 
of  the  African  route  by  Vasco  da  Gama,  in- 
duced Spain  to  agree  to  the  extension  of  the 
Papal  meridian  370  leagues  farther  west,  the 

17 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Portuguese  continued  their  activities  with 
renewed  ardor.  In  March,  1500,  on  his  way 
to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Pedro  Alvarez 
Cabral,  a  Portuguese  nobleman  in  command 
of  an  expedition  intended  to  resume  the  work 
begun  by  Da  Gama,  was  blown  across  the  At- 
lantic to  the  coasts  of  Brazil,  where  he  touched 
at  a  point  in  the  southern  part  of  what  is  now 
the  State  of  Bahia.  Under  the  impression 
that  it  was  an  island,  and  assuming  that  it  lay 
east  of  the  Tordesillas  treaty  line,  he  landed 
and  took  possession  in  the  name  of  his  King. 
The  news  having  reached  Portugal  in  the  Fall 
of  the  same  year,  no  time  was  lost  in  asserting 
title  and  sending  out  a  small  fleet  to  ascertain 
the  extent  and  resources  of  the  region,  also 
in  the  hope  that  a  wealthy  and  civilized  peo- 
ple like  that  of  Hindustan  would  be  found. 
This  expedition  was  placed  under  the  com- 
mand of  Amerigo  Vespucci,  a  Florentine  as- 
tronomer and  navigator,  who  had  already 
made  two  voyages  for  Spain  and  skirted  the 
coast  of  Yucatan  and  the  northern  conti- 
nent, around  Florida,  as  far  north  as  the 
Chesapeake.  Setting  sail  now  to  the  south, 
he  made  a  systematic  examination  of  the  Bra- 
zilian coast  for  two  thousand  miles.  All  he 

18 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

found  that  seemed  to  have  any  immediate 
commercial  value  were  immense  quantities  of 
a  dyewood  known  in  Europe  as  "brazil"  (the 
color  of  fire) ;  it  was  from  this,  of  course,  that 
the  country  took  its  name.  The  Portuguese, 
being  by  that  time,  however,  too  engrossed  in 
their  African  mines  and  sugar  plantations 
and  East  Indian  trade  to  think  it  worth  while 
to  found  colonies  in  such  a  region,  did  noth- 
ing to  develop  it  until  thirty  years  had  passed 
by  and  it  became  necessary  for  them  to  pro- 
tect their  rights,  particularly  from  the  French, 
who  had  been  tempted  by  the  great  demand 
for  the  dyewood  to  engage  in  coastwise  poach- 
ing on  a  large  scale. 

For  this  reason,  to  his  contemporaries,  the 
most  interesting  feature  of  Vespucci's  report 
was  the  conviction  he  expressed  that  this 
country  south  of  the  equator  was  neither  Asia 
nor  an  island,  but  a  new  continent,  or,  as  he 
himself  called  it,  a  "new  world"-  -"for  it 
transcends  the  ideas  of  the  ancients,"  he  said 
in  a  letter  to  his  friend  Soderini,  "since  most 
of  them  declare  that,  beyond  the  equator  to 
the  south,  there  is  no  continent  but  only  the 
sea  which  they  call  the  Atlantic;  but  this  last 
voyage  of  mine  has  proved  that  this  opinion 

19 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

of  theirs  is  erroneous,  because  in  these  south- 
ern regions  I  have  found  a  continent  more 
thickly  inhabited  by  peoples  and  animals  than 
our  Europe  or  Asia  or  Africa,  and,  moreover, 
a  climate  more  temperate  and  agreeable  than 
any  known  to  us."  In  1504  this  letter  was 
published  under  the  title  "Mundus  Novus." 
The  term  "new  world"  caught  the  popular 
fancy,  and  although,  in  1497,  Columbus  first 
of  all,  and  later  Vespucci  himself  with  Alonso 
de  Ojeda,  had  cruised  along  and  touched  at 
points  on  its  Caribbean  coast,  by  virtue  of  his 
Brazilian  explorations  Vespucci  was  ac- 
claimed the  discoverer. 

And  therein  was  the  source  of  the  con- 
fusion that  gave  to  South  America,  and  event- 
ually to  the  northern  continent  as  well,  the 
name  they  bear  rather  than  one  commemora- 
tive of  Columbus.  No  one  suspected  that 
there  were  two  oceans  instead  of  only  the 
Atlantic  between  Europe  and  Asia;  that  the 
land  Amerigo  Vespucci  had  explored  south 
of  the  equator  was  of  a  piece  with  that  dis- 
covered by  Columbus  to  the  north.  It  was 
conceived  to  be  entirely  detached  from  and  to 
the  south  of  Cathay,  which  Columbus  was  still 
supposed  to  have  reached,  and  to  lie  in  a  po- 

20 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

sition  somewhat  similar  to  that  which  Aus- 
tralia was  afterward  found  to  occupy.  Con- 
sequently, when  in  1507  Mathias  Ringmann 
published  his  "Introductio  Cosmographie" 
he  proposed  that  this  (as  he  estimated  it) 
"fourth  part  of  the  globe"  be  called  "Amer- 
igo" The  following  year  Martinus  Waldsee- 
miiller  published  his  map,  whereon  for  the 
first  time  the  name  "America"  appeared.  In- 
vestigation has  made  it  clear  that  there  was 
no  attempt,  as  Vespucci's  maligners  charged, 
to  immortalize  his  name  at  the  expense  of 
Columbus.  The  southern  continent  was  not 
named  for  Columbus  simply  because  it  was 
thought  to  be  distinct  from  his  discoveries; 
the  northern,  because  it  was  thought  already 
to  have  been  named  Cathay. 

At  last,  when  the  existence  across  the  At- 
lantic of  a  continuous  stretch  of  land  had 
been  comprehended,  and  when,  in  the  light  of 
the  Portuguese  discoveries  by  way  of  the  Af- 
rican route,  it  was  realized  that  these  strange 
coasts  did  not  in  the  least  coincide  with  the 
ideas  formed  of  them  by  those  who  had  as- 
sumed them  to  be  Asiatic,  the  conviction  grew 
that  the  fabulous  treasure  lands  of  the  Orient 
had  not  been  reached  by  this  western  route 

21  * 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

at  all.  The  whole  stretch  must  be  embraced 
in  the  new  world,  it  was  concluded;  there 
must  be  another  ocean  than  the  Atlantic  be- 
yond. "Rumors  of  it  had  been  heard,  or 
glimpses  caught,  perhaps,  at  one  time  or  an- 
other," says  Hawthorne,  "before  the  actual 
fact  was  understood.  Meanwhile  Spain  was 
very  anxious  to  get  through  or  around  this 
singular  barrier  of  islands,  or  whatever  it  was 
that  was  keeping  her  from  sharing  the  profits 
that  Da  Gama  had  brought  to  Portugal  from 
Hindustan,  and  she  sent  out  expeditions  to 
accomplish  it."  In  1505  Amerigo  Vespucci 
(who  had  returned  to  the  Spanish  flag),  with 
La  Cosa,  explored  the  Gulf  of  Darien  and 
penetrated  two  hundred  miles  up  the  Atrato, 
thinking  it  might  prove  a  strait  leading  to 
the  Asiatic  waters.  Juan  de  Solis  was  try- 
ing to  find  it  when  he  explored  the  Rio  de  la 
Plata  and  met  his  death  at  the  hands  of  the 
natives.  Jacques  Cartier  was  seeking  it  when 
he  explored  the  St.  Lawrence,  D'Ayllon  when 
he  tried  the  Chesapeake  and  James,  and 
Hendrik  Hudson  when  he  ascended  the  river 
that  bears  his  name. 

In  1513,  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa,  Governor 
of  Darien,  a  valiant  adventurer  who  had  been 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

prominent  in  the  conquest  and  colonization 
of  the  Isthmus,  undertook  by  means  of  an 
expedition  by  land  to  ascertain  whether  such 
an  ocean  did  really  exist.  Starting  with  a 
company  of  about  a  hundred  and  ninety 
Spaniards  and  a  few  Indians,  he  skirted  the 
coast  of  Panama  to  a  point  near  Cape  Ti- 
buron,  and  there  disembarked  and  headed  in- 
land. For  twenty  days  his  party  persevered 
over  forest-clad  swamps,  valleys,  and  moun- 
tains, fought  a  pitched  battle  with  the  na- 
tives, and  finally  cut  its  way  through  the 
dense  undergrowth  to  the  heights  overlook- 
ing what  is  now  known  as  the  Gulf  of  San 
Miguel,  on  the  Pacific  side,  and  thus  resolved 
all  doubt  into  certainty  and  completed  an 
event  which,  declares  Dawson,  "was  second 
in  its  far-reaching  consequences  only  to  Co- 
lumbus' first  voyage."  Balboa  dubbed  it  the 
Southern  Sea,  little  thinking  that  it  was  a 
body  of  water  more  vast  than  the  Atlantic 
that  he  had  found  to  bar  the  way  to  Cathay. 
"So  elated  was  he  over  his  epoch-making 
discovery,"  says  Mozans,  quoting  from  an 
early  chronicler,  that — 

"With  no  lesse  manlye  courage  than  Hannibal  of 
Carthage  shewed  his  souldiers  Italye  and  the  pro- 

23 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

montories  of  the  Alps,  he  exhorted  his  men  to  lyft  up 
theyre  hartes  and  to  behoulde  the  land  even  now 
under  theyre  feete  and  the  sea  before  theyre  eyes, 
which  shoulde  bee  unto  them  a  full  and  juste  reward  of 
theyre  great  laboures  and  trauayles  now  ouerpassed. 
When  he  had  sayde  these  woordes,  he  commanded  them 
to  raise  certeine  heapes  of  stones  in  the  steede  of 
altars  for  a  token  of  possession.  Then,  descendynge 
from  the  toppes  of  the  mountaynes,  lest  such  as  might 
come  after  hym  shoulde  argu  hym  of  lyinge  and  f als- 
hod,  he  wrote  the  Kyng  of  Castelles  his  name  here  and 
there  on  the  barkes  of  the  trees,  both  on  the  ryght 
hande  and  on  the  lefte,  and  raysed  heapes  of  stones  all 
the  way  that  he  went  untyll  he  came  to  the  region 
of  the  nexte  Kynge  towarde  the  south,  whose  name 
was  Chiapes." 


"The  act  of  taking  possession  was  so 
typical  of  similar  formalities  of  the  Conquis- 
tadores,"  continues  Mozans,  "that  I  tran- 
scribe from  Oviedo  his  account  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  Balboa  and  his  companions 
claimed  for  his  sovereign  the  Sea  of  the 
South,  all  islands  in  it  and  all  lands  border- 
ing on  it,  in  what  part  of  the  world  soever. 
Armed  with  his  sword  and  bearing  aloft  a 
banner  on  which  were  painted  an  image  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  and  the  Divine  Child 
and  the  arms  of  Castile  and  Leon,  Balboa, 
followed  by  his  associates,  entered  the  water 

24 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

until  it  rose  above  his  knees,  when  in  a  loud 
voice  he  said: 

"  'Long  live  the  high  and  mighty  monarchs,  Don 
Ferdinand  and  Dona  Juana,  Sovereigns  of  Castile, 
of  Leon  and  of  Aragon,  in  whose  name  and  for  the 
royal  crown  of  Castile,  I  take  real  and  corporal  and 
actual  possession  of  these  seas  and  lands  and  coasts 
and  ports  and  islands  of  the  south,  and  all  thereunto 
annexed,  and  of  the  kingdoms  and  provinces  which 
do  or  may  appertain  to  them,  in  whatever  manner  or 
by  whatever  right  or  title,  ancient  or  modern,  in  times 
past,  present  or  to  come,  without  any  contradiction ; 
and  if  other  prince  or  captain,  Christian  or  infidel,  or 
of  any  law,  sect  or  condition  whatsoever,  shall  pretend 
any  right  to  these  islands  and  seas,  I  am  ready  and 
prepared  to  maintain  and  defend  them  in  the  name  of 
the  Castilian  Sovereigns,  present  and  future,  whose 
is  the  empire  and  dominion  over  these  Indias,  islands 
and  terra  firma,  northern  and  southern,  with  all  their 
seas,  both  at  the  arctic  and  antarctic  poles,  on  either 
side  of,  the  equinoctial  line,  whether  within  or  without 
the  tropics  of  Cancer  and  Capricorn,  both  now  and  at 
all  times  so  long  as  the  world  shall  endure  and  until 
the  final  judgment  of  all  mankind.'  And  then  the 
Notary,  who  always  accompanied  such  expeditions, 
was  ordered  to  make  on  the  spot  an  exact  record  of 
what  had  been  said  and  done,  which  was  duly  signed 
and  authenticated  by  all  present." 

It  was  to  the  Portuguese  navigator  Fernao 
de  Magalhaes  (Ferdinand  Magellan  in  the 
English  rendering  of  the  name)  that  the 

25 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

honor  finally  fell  of  being  the  first,  not  alone 
to  find  the  passage  through  the  new  conti- 
nent that  was  being  so  eagerly  sought,  but 
to  cross  by  the  western  route  to  the  East  In- 
dies and  thereby  blaze  the  way  to  making 
geography  an  exact  science.  He  had  already 
been  to  the  Moluccas  by  the  African  route, 
and,  disgusted  by  the  failure  of  his  King 
suitably  to  reward  his  services,  had  trans- 
ferred his  allegiance  to  Spain  and  managed 
to  secure  from  the  Emperor  Charles  V  a 
commission  and  five  ships,  the  largest  of 
but  120  tons'  burden.  On  the  20th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1419,  he  sailed  from  the  Guadalquivir, 
with  a  crew  numbering  280,  all  told,  and, 
having  entered  the  Plata  River  and  satisfied 
himself  that  it  was  not  a  strait,  ran  down  the 
Patagonian  coast  through  many  storms  un- 
til he  found  shelter  in  the  harbor  of  St. 
Julian,  where,  on  Easter  Sunday,  a  mutiny 
broke  out  that  only  a  man  of  such  remark- 
able courage  and  resourcefulness  as  Magellan 
possessed  could  have  suppressed.  It  had 
been  a  hard  voyage,  the  chances  of  finding  the 
strait  seemed  slim,  there  was  only  the  pros- 
pect that  there  they  must  remain  throughout 
the  antarctic  winter  in  idleness  and  discom- 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

fort;  it  is  small  wonder  that  they  wanted  to 
desert. 

However,  during  the  last  week  in  August 
spring  began  (the  seasons  are  reversed  south 
of  the  equator,  it  must  be  remembered)  and 
the  fleet,  without  the  Santiago,  which  had 
been  wrecked,  proceeded  to  the  south.  After 
experiencing  much  more  bad  weather,  they 
made  Cape  Virgins  on  the  21st  of  October 
and  entered  a  large  bay,  which  was  flanked  by 
lofty  mountains,  crowned  with  glaciers  and 
snow.  This  at  last  was  the  entrance  to  the 
passage,  but  at  that  very  point  one  of  the 
vessels,  the  San  Antonio,  seized  an  opportu- 
nity to  make  its  escape  and  return  to  Spain. 
"For  five  weeks,"  as  Hawthorne  relates,  "the 
remaining  three  ships  wound  along  through 
the  tortuous  channel.  Provisions  were  run- 
ning short,  yet  Magellan  would  not  turn  back 
'even  if  he  had  to  eat  the  leather  off  the 
ships'  yards.'  At  length  his  persistence  was 
rewarded  by  a  sight  of  the  open  sea.  'When,' 
to  quote  Richard  Eden,  'the  Capitayne  was 
past  the  strayght  and  saw  the  way  open  to 
the  mayne  sea,  he  was  so  gladde  thereof  that 
for  joy  the  teares  fell  from  his  eyes  and  he 
named  the  poynte  of  the  lande  from  whense 

27 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

he  first  saw  that  sea  Cape  Desiderate.'  And 
the  broad  ocean  which  lay  before  him  was  so 
calm,  after  his  many  stormful  days,  that  he 
called  it  the  Pacific." 

"But  months  of  a  voyage  as  trying  as  any 
they  had  encountered  still  lay  before  them," 
Hawthorne  goes  on.  "Could  the  planet  be  so 
vast?  Until  December  they  kept  a  northerly 
course,  then  struck  out  boldly  across  the  un- 
known waste.  They  ran  across  one  or  two 
islands,  but  erelong  were  swallowed  up  in 
the  seemingly  endless  immensity  of  ocean. 
They  were  reduced  to  the  utmost  extremities 
for  food  and  water;  scurvy  broke  out;  nine- 
teen men  died  and  thirty  were  too  ill  to  work. 
Finally,  on  the  6th  of  March,  they  reached 
the  Ladrone  Islands,  so  named  because  of 
the  thievishness  of  the  natives.  Here  they 
got  fruit  and  other  food,  and  the  worst  was 
over.  Ten  days  later  the  Philippines  were 
sighted  and  Magellan  knew  the  extent  of  his 
achievement.  He  had  sailed  round  the  world. 
Happier  than  Columbus,  he  did  not  survive 
this  mightiest  exploit  of  his  time;  in  a  fight 
with  the  natives  the  great  sailor  was  killed." 

Only  one  of  the  little  vessels  ever  got  back 
to  Spain.  Returning  by  way  of  Africa,  she 

28 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

arrived  at  the  Guadalquivir  in  September,  a 
year  after  she  had  set  out,  and  with  but 
eighteen  survivors  of  the  expedition.  "What 
a  picture!"  the  historian  exclaims — "those 
eighteen  seaworn  mariners  in  their  battered 
craft,  survivors  of  the  greatest  feat  of  navi- 
gation that  has  ever  been  performed.  What 
a  poem  is  their  story,  what  an  event  in  the 
history  of  mankind!  What  reward  did  Ma- 
gellan have?  None  that  mortal  could  bestow. 
He  was  dead  and  his  wife  and  son  had  also 
died.  Del  Cano,  the  captain  of  the  ship,  was 
given  a  crest,  with  the  legend,  on  a  terrestrial 
globe,  'Primus  circumdedisti  me,'  together 
with  a  pension  of  five  hundred  ducats,  and 
Espinosa  was  likewise  pensioned  and  en- 
nobled. But  every  mariner  who  sails  the  seas 
knows  Magellan  and  the  story  of  his  exploit, 
and  mankind  accords  him  the  honor  that 
Spain  could  not  bestow.  Of  all  the  great 
explorers,  he  is  perhaps  the  one  whose  char- 
acter and  deeds  we  can  contemplate  with  the 
most  unalloyed  satisfaction." 

rv 

Until  the  great  Dutch  navigator,  Willim 
Cornelis    Schouten,    found   the    way    around 

29 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Cape  Horn  nearly  a  hundred  years  later,  how- 
ever, no  practical  advantage  over  her  rival  re- 
sulted to  Spain  from  Magellan's  discoveries 
— so  far  as  trade  with  the  East  Indies  was 
concerned,  that  is.  The  passage  through  the 
Strait  was  too  perilous  for  sailing  vessels,  the 
distance  across  the  Pacific  too  great.  Yet 
only  a  year  before  Magellan  set  out  on  his 
famous  voyage  an  era  began  in  her  new  pos- 
sessions that  was  to  pour  into  her  coffers  a 
stream  of  gold  in  comparison  with  which  the 
profits  Portugal  was  deriving  from  her  trade 
with  the  Orient  seemed  trivial.  For  in  that 
year  Hernando  Cortes,  the  greatest  soldier 
and  statesman  Spain  ever  sent  to  the  new 
world,  began  his  conquest  of  Mexico. 

Except  for  the  spirit  of  emulation  it  in- 
spired, except  for  the  knowledge  it  brought 
of  the  existence  in  the  newly  discovered  coun- 
tries of  a  people  less  barbarous  than  the 
aborigines  of  the  Antilles,  of  mines  that 
were  worth  while  and  of  enormous  hoards  of 
treasure,  the  story  of  that  conquest  has  no 
place  in  the  history  of  South  America,  and, 
therefore,  will  not  be  gone  into  here.  It  is  re- 
lated somewhere  as  an  interesting  commen- 
tary that  in  an  obscure  little  house  in  the  City 

30 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

of  Mexico  still  lives  a  modest,  well-educated 
gentleman  who  is  directly  descended  from 
the  Emperor  of  the  Aztecs.  Senor  Monte- 
zuma  entertains  no  hope  of  a  restoration,  it 
is  said,  but  quietly  accepts  the  meager  pen- 
sion allowed  him  by  the  present  government, 
while  the  heirs  of  Cortes  receive  immense 
revenues  from  their  Mexican  estates  and  the 
Marquis  del  Valle,  as  the  present-day  Cortes 
is  called,  lives  in  luxury  and  is  a  man  of  influ- 
ence and  power  in  the  land. 

In  1526,  Sebastian  Cabot  was  commissioned 
by  the  King  of  Spain  to  locate  the  Papal 
meridian  in  America  and  then  to  follow  in 
Magellan's  track  and  determine  the  corre- 
sponding longitude  on  the  Asiatic  side;  but, 
when  he  put  in  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  de  la 
Plata,  he  heard  rumors  of  a  great  and  wealthy 
people  who  dwelt  near  the  headwaters  of  the 
river — rumors  like  those  Grijalva  had  heard 
respecting  the  Aztecs  and  which  had  led  to 
the  Mexican  conquest  by  Cortes;  only  these 
wonderful  accounts  were  of  a  South  Ameri- 
can empire.  In  proof  of  what  they  said,  the 
Indians  of  the  Plata  exhibited  silver  orna- 
ments that  had  passed  from  hand  to  hand 
from  the  highlands  of  Bolivia  and  Peru,  along 

31 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

the  river  to  the  Atlantic;  and,  too  strongly 
tempted  to  resist,  and  trusting  that  the  dis- 
covery of  the  rich  mines  from  which  this  sil- 
ver came  would  excuse  their  disobedience, 
Cabot  and  his  company  abandoned  their  sur- 
vey and  spent  three  years  exploring  and 
prospecting  along  the  Uruguay  and  Parana 
is  far  north  as  the  present  site  of  the  city  of 
Asuncion.  As  their  forces  and  provisions 
were  inadequate  to  enable  them  to  penetrate 
farther,  the  search  was  in  vain;  and  so,  hav- 
ing found,  on  their  return  to  a  fort  they  had 
established,  that  it  had  been  taken  by  the  In- 
dians and  the  garrison  massacred,  Cabot 
abandoned  the  effort  and  went  back  to  Spain 
to  make  what  explanation  he  could. 

The  news  of  this  supposed  encroachment, 
added  to  the  ever  increasing  poaching  of  the 
French,  proved  what  was  needed  to  stimulate 
the  Portuguese  at  last  to  make  a  serious  at- 
tempt at  colonization  in  Brazil.  One  Chris- 
tovao  Jaques  and  a  few  settlers  had  already 
established  a  small  sugar  factory  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  present  site  of  Pernambuco, 
and  it  had  been  found  that  much  of  the  land 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  country  was 
admirably  adapted  to  the  cultivation  of  that 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

staple,  the  demand  for  which  in  Europe  was 
constantly  increasing.  Five  vessels  were  sent 
out,  therefore,  under  the  command  of  Martini 
Alfonso  da  Souza.  Early  in  1531  he  drew 
near  Cape  St.  Roque,  captured  three  French 
ships  laden  with  brazil  wood,  sent  part  of  his 
own  fleet  north  to  explore  the  coast  beyond, 
and  with  the  other  ships  sailed  south  and 
dropped  anchor  near  the  site  of  what  is  now 
the  great  coffee  port  of  Santos.  There  he 
established  Sao  Vicente,  the  first  permanent 
colony  in  Brazil. 

There  also  they  came  across  one  Joao  Ra- 
malho,  a  former  sailor  who  had  been  put 
ashore  for  mutiny  years  before  by  a  ship  on 
its  way  to  India  and  was  living  among  the 
natives  of  the  neighborhood  with  his  half- 
breed  children.  Glad  enough  to  welcome  his 
countrymen,  he  disposed  the  Indians  to  peace 
and  showed  the  Portuguese  the  way  up  the 
mountains  to  the  vast  plateau  that  begins  only 
a  few  miles  from  the  sea.  There,  near  the 
present  site  of  Sao  Paulo,  was  founded  an- 
other settlement,  from  whence  they  could 
stretch  out  in  all  directions  over  what  was 
destined  to  become  the  greatest  coffee-pro- 
ducing country  in  the  world. 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

A  year  or  two  afterward,  encouraged  by 
Da  Souza's  success,  Duarte  Coelho  set  out 
with  a  carefully  selected  and  more  numerous 
company  and  founded  the  colony  of  Pernam- 
buco.  Here,  as  in  the  south,  the  country  back 
of  the  coast  was  fertile  and  easily  accessible 
and  there  was  little  trouble  with  the  Indians. 
Sugar  planting  proved  wonderfully  profit- 
able, Coelho  turned  out  to  be  a  good  man- 
ager, and  so  politic  was  he  in  the  relations 
with  the  mother  country  that  within  a  few 
years  the  colony  had  become  self-supporting 
and,  like  the  other,  possessed  of  all  the  ele- 
ments of  permanence  and  prosperity.  Soon 
afterward  Sfio  Salvador  da  Bahia  was  estab- 
lished. With  such  a  beginning,  it  was  not 
long  before  the  Portuguese  began  flocking 
to  Brazil  as  the  Spaniards  had  to  the  Carib- 
bean. 


In  the  meanwhile  in  this  region  of  the 
Caribbean  much  progress  had  been  made. 
Towns  had  been  built,  not  only  in  Espanola, 
but  in  Cuba,  Jamaica,  Porto  Rico  and  in 
Darien  and  other  places  on  the  Isthmus, 
landed  estates  (repartimientos)  had  been  ap- 

34 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

portioned,  as  rewards  for  services,  among 
such  as  desired  to  cultivate  them,  mining 
rights  had  been  allotted.  These  plantations 
and  the  mines  were  being  worked  by  natives 
impressed  into  slavery,  some  of  the  communi- 
ties had  become  large  and  thriving,  in  Spain 
a  Council  of  the  Indies  and  in  the  islands  lo- 
cal governmental  tribunals  (Real  Audiencias) 
had  been  created. 

Whole  fleets  of  ships  plied  back  and  forth 
across  the  Atlantic,  those  setting  out  from 
Spain  laden  with  implements  of  agriculture 
and  war,  clothes,  and  fresh  companies  of  ad- 
venturers, coming  over  as  colonists,  or  to 
continue  the  work  of  conquest  and  the  search 
for  treasure;  those  returning,  laden  with  the 
products  of  the  tropics  and  with  gold  and 
precious  stones.  Emeralds  had  been  found 
near  the  coast  of  Colombia,  and  Balboa  had 
discovered  in  the  Gulf  of  San  Miguel — that 
famous  group  of  islands  where,  as  Mozans 
tells  us,  "pearls  were  so  common  that  the 
natives  used  them  for  adorning  the  paddles 
of  their  canoes" — pearls  "as  large  as  filberts 
and  of  exceeding  beauty  of  form  and  luster," 
many  of  which,  "found  in  the  same  fisheries 
a  short  time  subsequently,  at  once  took  place 

35 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

among  the  largest  and  most  perfect  of  the 
world's  gems." 

Nevertheless,  neither  there  nor  anywhere 
else  in  the  Caribbean  region,  had  any  vast 
wealth  and  civilization  comparable  to  that  of 
the  Mexicans  been  discovered.  Balboa,  how- 
ever, had  married,  according  to  the  Indian 
custom,  the  daughter  of  a  cacique  (na- 
tive chief),  and,  being  in  the  confidence  of 
the  Indians  of  his  province,  had  heard  ru- 
mors, even  before  the  conquest  of  Mexico, 
of  a  rich  and  powerful  empire  to  the  south 
(the  same  that  were  afterward  heard  by 
Cabot) ;  and,  after  he  had  been  succeeded 
as  Governor  by  his  jealous  rival,  the  no- 
torious Pedrarias  Davila,  was  commissioned 
to  take  charge  of  an  expedition  to  go  in 
search  of  it.  Already  he  had  accomplished 
the  unheard-of  task  of  taking  four  ships  to 
pieces  on  the  Caribbean  shore,  transporting 
them  across  the  Isthmus  and  reconstructing 
them  on  the  shore  of  San  Miguel,  and,  when 
about  to  sail,  had  been  arrested  by  order  of 
Pedrarias,  tried  on  a  charge  of  treason,  and 
executed  before  he  could  appeal  to  Spain. 
Some  years  later,  having  forestalled  his  great 
rival  in  that  summary  way,  Pedrarias  en- 

36 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

trusted  the  venture  to  one  Francisco  Pizarro, 
an  opportunist,  without  money,  rank,  or 
credit,  and  then  nearly  fifty  years  old,  yet 
one  who  startled  the  world  by  an  achieve- 
ment equaled  only  by  Cortes'  own. 

Francisco  Pizarro  had  been  but  a  swine- 
herd in  his  boyhood,  but  later  had  served 
under  Gonzolo  de  Cordova  (El  Gran  Capi- 
tan)  in  that  splendid  body  of  infantrymen 
which  fought  its  way  to  the  foremost  rank 
in  Europe,  and  was  a  son,  too,  though  an 
illegitimate  one,  of  a  Spanish  officer  of 
noble  blood.  For  such  a  man,  as  Dawson 
says,  "an  admirable  soldier,  conscious  that 
he  possessed  powers  of  the  highest  order  yet 
hopelessly  handicapped  in  old  Europe  by 
his  base  birth  and  illiteracy,  the  discovery  of 
the  new  world  opened  up  a  field  for  his 
talents"  that  led  him  "eagerly  to  embrace 
the  opportunity  to  embark  with  Alonso  de 
Ojeda  in  1509  for  the  Darien  gold  mines." 
His  first  appearance  in  history  is  as  a 
member  of  the  party  that  went  with  Balboa 
to  search  for  the  Pacific;  afterward  he  was 
among  the  first  of  "the  adventurers  that 
flocked  to  the  new  city  of  Panama,  looking 
over  the  mysterious  sea,  like  a  pack  of  wolves 

37 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

eager  for  a  share  in  the  spoils  of  its  unknown 
shores;"  later  he  happened  to  be  the  officer 
chosen  by  Pedrarias  for  Balboa's  arrest. 

As  he  had  no  funds  of  his  own,  and  since 
it  was  the  custom  of  the  times  for  the  Con- 
quistadores  who  undertook  such  expeditions 
to  do  so  at  their  own  expense,  he  associated 
with  him  a  priest  named  Hernando  de  Luque, 
who  had  some  capital,  and  Diego  de  Almagro, 
a  soldier  of  still  more  advanced  age  but  of 
ability  and  good  reputation.  It  was  agreed 
that  the  Padre  de  Luque  should  contribute 
the  funds,  that  Almagro  should  attend  to  the 
collecting  and  forwarding  of  troops  and  sup- 
plies, and  that  Pizarro  himself  should  have 
the  active  command.  Whereupon  they 
bought  one  of  the  ships  that  had  been  carried 
across  the  Isthmus  by  Balboa  and  set  out  on 
their  first  expedition  in  1524.  As  so  fre- 
quently occurred  in  such  cases,  however,  in- 
adequacy of  provisions  caused  the  venture 
to  fail. 

Eighteen  months  later  they  sailed  again, 
with  a  much  larger  stock  of  supplies  and 
this  time  with  160  men.  For  hundreds  of 
miles  they  found  nothing  but  the  same 
swampy,  forest-clad  wastes  along  the  Co- 

38 


FRANCISCO    PIZARRO. 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

lombian  shore,  inhabited  only  by  naked  tribes 
of  savages.  Pizarro's  disheartened  compan- 
ions, too  ready  to  believe  that  the  country 
they  were  seeking  was  but  a  myth,  would 
have  had  him  return;  but  one  day  the  pilot, 
who  had  been  sent  on  ahead,  suddenly  reap- 
peared with  the  news  that  he  had  penetrated 
south  of  the  equator  and  had  there  met  a 
large  trading  raft  on  its  way  north,  bearing 
cloth,  silver  work,  vases,  and  other  things  per- 
taining to  civilization  and  manned  by  a  crew 
that  wore  clothes.  These  men,  the  pilot  re- 
ported, had  told  him  that  they  came  from  a 
town  called  Tumbez,  which  lay  in  a  fertile 
valley  behind  a  penetrable  coast — that  the 
whole  interior  of  the  country  was  inhabited 
by  a  civilized  people,  subjects  of  an  emperor 
whose  capital  was  a  great  city,  high  up  in  the 
mountains  still  farther  south.  On  this  con- 
firmation of  their  hopes,  the  commander  suc- 
ceeded in  inducing  his  men  to  push  on  until 
they  had  reached  nearly  as  far  as  the  north- 
ern boundary  of  Ecuador,  where  he  landed 
most  of  the  company  on  an  island  called 
Gallo  and  sent  Almagro  back  to  Panama  for 
more  provisions  and  supplies. 

At  Gallo  the  climate  proved  unhealthful; 
39 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

fevers  soon  decimated  the  party;  even  their 
clothes  were  rotted  by  the  almost  incessant 
rains  and  steamy  heat,  and,  as  though  that 
were  not  enough,  when  the  Governor  learned 
from  members  of  the  crew  who  had  returned 
that  the  men  were  being  held  there  against 
their  will,  he  flew  into  a  rage,  instead  of  send- 
ing supplies  and  reinforcements,  and  des- 
patched a  ship  to  bring  back  all  who  wished  to 
desert.  Only  emboldened  by  these  misfor- 
tunes, Pizarro  "drew  his  sword  and  traced  a 
line  with  it  on  the  sand  from  east  to  west," 
says  Montesino  in  his  Anales  del  Peru. 
"Then,  turning  toward  the  south,  'Friends 
and  comrades,'  he  said,  'on  that  side  are  toil, 
hunger,  nakedness,  the  drenching  storm,  de- 
sertion, and  death ;  on  this  side,  ease  and  pleas- 
ure. There  lies  Peru  with  its  riches;  here 
Panama  and  its  poverty.  Choose,  each  man, 
what  best  becomes  a  brave  Castilian.  For  my 
part,  I  go  to  the  south/  and,  so  saying,  he 
stepped  across  the  line."  He  was  followed  by 
the  pilot  Ruiz,  a  Greek  cavalier  named  de 
Candia,  and  only  eleven  others.  There  is,  in- 
deed, as  Prescott  comments — 

"Something  striking  to  the  imagination  in  the  spec- 
40 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

tacle  of  those  few  brave  spirits  consecrating  themselves 
to  a  daring  enterprise  that  seemed  as  far  above  their 
strength  as  any  recorded  in  the  fabulous  annals  of 
knight-errantry.  A  handful  of  men,  without  food, 
without  clothing,  almost  without  arms,  without  knowl- 
edge of  the  land  to  which  they  were  bound,  without 
even  a  vessel  to  transport  them,  were  left  there  on  a 
rock  in  the  ocean  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  carrying 
on  a  crusade  against  a  powerful  empire,  staking  their 
lives  on  its  success.  What  is  there  in  the  legends  of 
chivalry  that  surpasses  it?  " 

For  weary  months  they  awaited  the  return 
of  Almagro  with  the  provisions,  and  the  mo- 
ment they  arrived  set  sail  for  the  Gulf  of 
Guayaquil.  Landing  at  Tumbez,  says  Daw- 
son,  "with  their  own  eyes  they  saw  confirma- 
tion of  what  the  Indians  of  the  raft  had  told 
them.  Irrigated  fields,  green  with  beautiful 
crops,  lined  the  river  bank;  eighty  thousand 
people,  all  comfortably  housed,  lived  in  the 
valley;  commerce  was  flourishing  ;  large  tem- 
ples, profusely  ornamented  with  gold  and  sil- 
ver, testified  to  their  wealth  and  culture;  the 
government  was  well  ordered  and  stable,  and 
the  people  received  the  visitors  with  open- 
handed  hospitality."  It  is  easy  enough  to 
imagine  with  what  longing  eyes  these  forlorn 
adventurers  who  had  risked  and  endured  so 

41 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

much  must  have  gazed  on  such  a  scene  as 
this! 

Yet,  concluding  that  his  force  was  too 
small  even  for  a  raid,  and  thinking  it  wiser, 
anyway,  after  what  had  happened,  to  be  in- 
vested with  independent  powers  before  mak- 
ing any  attempt  at  a  conquest,  Pizarro  made 
his  way  back  to  Spain  and  related  his  ex- 
periences to  the  King,  who  was  so  greatly 
impressed  both  with  the  story  and  the  peti- 
tioner's noble  and  commanding  presence  that 
he  did  more  than  merely  commission  him  to 
undertake  a  new  expedition:  he  legitimized 
him  and  created  him  marquis,  appointed  him 
Adelantado  (governor)  of  such  countries  as 
he  might  conquer,  created  Almagro  marshal, 
and  made  the  thirteen  who  had  so  gallantly 
stood  by  them  gentlemen  of  coat  armor. 

On  Pizarro's  return  to  Panama,  he  brought 
with  him  a  few  kindred  spirits  selected  from 
among  the  very  flower  of  the  fighting  men 
of  the  Peninsula,  including  his  brothers  Her- 
nando,  Juan,  and  Gonzalo  and  his  half- 
brother,  Francisco  Alcantara,  his  equals  in 
valor  if  not  in  audacity  and  intellect.  And 
then,  as  he  believed  from  what  he  had  seen  of 
the  fighting  on  the  Isthmus,  that  a  few  scores 

42 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

of  good  men,  mail-clad  and  well  provided  with 
artillery  and  horses — for  these,  unknown  in 
the  new  world  before  the  advent  of  the 
Spaniards,  had  never  failed  to  strike  terror 
to  the  natives — would  be  as  effective  as 
thousands  in  overcoming  undisciplined  masses 
of  Indians,  armed  in  their  inferior  fashion, 
instead  of  attempting  to  assemble  an  army 
he  got  together  only  a  small  company  com- 
posed of  men  of  whose  courage  and  experi- 
ence he  was  well  assured.  Having  arranged 
with  Almagro  to  follow  with  what  reinforce- 
ments he  could  recruit  from  among  the  un- 
employed adventurers  in  Nicaragua,  he  set 
out  once  more. 

This  time  he  happened  to  land  first 
among  the  less  civilized  tribes  in  Ecuador, 
where  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  find  a 
rich  store  of  emeralds  and  gold,  which  he 
sent  back  to  Almagro  to  encourage  him  in 
his  work.  Then,  marching  down  the  coast 
to  Guayaquil,  he  crossed  to  the  island  of 
Puna  to  await  the  reinforcements,  conquered 
the  fierce  inhabitants  of  the  place,  and  was 
afterward  joined  by  a  detachment  sent  out 
by  his  associate  under  the  command  of  Her- 
nando  de  Soto,  an  adventurer  who  had  served 

43 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

with  Cortes  in  Mexico  and  was  later  to 
attain  still  greater  fame  as  the  discoverer 
of  the  Mississippi.  Even  with  those  De  Soto 
brought,  the  whole  force  numbered  less  than 
two  hundred  and  fifty. 

Though  they  had  not  the  faintest  idea  of  it 
then,  the  empire  they  were  destined  to  bring 
under  the  Spanish  sway  covered  a  territory 
along  the  plateaux  and  eastern  and  Pacific 
slopes  of  the  Andes  extending  from  Quito 
in  Ecuador  to  the  river  Maule  in  Chile,  a 
distance  of  nearly  three  thousand  miles,  in- 
habited by  hardy  and  warlike  races,  that 
numbered,  according  to  the  estimate  of  the 
early  historians,  somewhere  near  twenty  mil- 
lions of  people. 

VI 

So  great  was  the  empire  of  the  Incas.  But 
from  whom  were  these  remarkable  rulers  de- 
scended who  brought  their  people  to  a  state 
of  civilization  relatively  so  superior  to  that 
of  the  savages  east  of  the  Andes?  To  what 
race  did  they  belong?  From  whence  did 
they  originally  come — Europe  or  Asia? — and, 
if  so,  how  did  they  get  to  South  America? 
How  did  they  acquire  the  knowledge  of  the 

44 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

arts  and  sciences  that  they  possessed?  "Stu- 
dents of  archaeology  have  essayed  in  vain  to 
answer  these  questions,"  says  Mozans.  "All 
is  still  shrouded  in  mystery — in  mystery  even 
darker  than  that  which  veils  the  advent  of 
the  Toltecs  and  Aztecs  to  the  valley  of  Ana- 
huac,  more  profound  than  that  which  ob- 
scures the  first  beginnings  of  the  civilizations 
on  the  elevated  Pamirs  and  in  the  valleys  of 
the  Nile  and  Euphrates.  In  all  this  uncer- 
tainty and  mystery,  however,"  he  adds, 

"One  fact  seems  to  remain  incontrovertible,  and 
that  is  that  Manco  Capac  and  Mama  Oello"  (the 
founders  of  the  dynasty  )  "first  appeared  on  the  shores 
of  Lake  Titicaca"  (a  body  of  water  nearly  as  large 
as  Lake  Erie,  lying  between  the  two  main  Cordillera 
of  the  Andes  in  southeastern  Peru,  two  miles  and  a 
half  up  above  the  level  of  the  sea).  "On  this  point 
tradition  and  the  concurrent  testimony  of  the  earlier 
historians  are  practically  at  one.  .  .  .  Another 
fact,  too,  is  unquestioned.  Whether  Manco  Capac, 
the  Minos  of  Peru,  was  of  foreign  or  of  native  birth, 
it  is  certain  that  he  was  able,  in  the  space  of  thirty 
years,  to  lay  the  foundation  of  that  vast  empire  which, 
under  the  Inca  Yupanqui,  extended  its  conquests  to 
the  Maule  in  Chile,  and,  under  Huayna  Capac, 
planted  its  victorious  banners  above  the  fortresses  of 
the  Shiri"  (the  Cacique  of  the  Caras),  "in  the  ex- 
tended territory  of  Quito,  and  which  gave  its  laws 
and  religion  and  language  to  hundreds  of  conquered 
tribes." 

45 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

"What  is  one  to  do  with  no  historical  rec- 
ords to  study  over?"  asks  Hawthorne. 

"The  Aztecs  did  have  some  sort  of  writing,  and, 
though  we  have  not  yet  learned  how  to  read  it,  we 
may  solace  ourselves  with  the  hope  that  enlightenment 
may  sometime  come;  but  the  people  of  the  Andes 
did  not  even  use  hieroglyphics.  Their  sole  documents 
were  knotted  strings.  These  strings,  which  they 
called  quipus,  were  of  course  merely  aids  to  memory — 
in  the  same  way  that  a  knot  in  a  handkerchief  enables 
a  husband  to  remember  the  instructions  his  wife  gives 
him  when  he  sets  out  for  the  city,  and  which  could 
not  be  written  down  in  many  pages.  .  .  .  Never- 
theless, we  have  traditions  in  plenty.  .  .  .  Start- 
ing with  the  reasonable  assumption  that  there  must 
have  been  a  very  considerable  past  before  the  Span- 
iards appeared,  we  may  construct  various  more  or 
less  plausible  surmises,  based  on  the  Cyclopean  archi- 
tectural ruins  which  are  distributed  about  the  country. 
Marvelous  works  they  are,  though  their  form,  and 
the  carvings  with  which  they  are  decorated,  are  less 
impressive  than  their  mere  size  and  weight.  .  .  . 
It  has  been  very  generally  thought  that  they  were 
the  handiwork  of  the  prehistoric  Piruas ;  yet,  since 
the  Piruas  are  prehistoric,  it  is  not  to  be  expected 
that  much  historic  information  concerning  them  is 
obtainable.  .  .  .  The  ruins  had  been  abandoned  long 
before  the  Spaniards  came  and  the  Indians  knew 
nothing  of  their  origin." 

"Still,  it  is  indisputable,"  he  goes  on  to  say, 

"that  in  Peru  the  grade  of  culture  found  in  Mex- 

46 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

ico  at  the  time  of  the  conquest  must  have  been 
reached  and  passed  many  ages  earlier.  In  proof  of 
this  we  have  the  fact  that  the  Peruvians  alone  had 
succeeded  in  domesticating  animals.  Only  the  dog 
had  been  adapted  to  man's  service  in  other  parts  of 
America.  Here  the  domestic  llama,  for  instance,  was 
derived  from  the  wild  huanacu  and  the  alpaca  from 
the  vicuna.  Many  centuries  would  be  required  in 
order  to  bring  about  these  results.  Several  varieties 
of  maize  were  also  produced  under  cultivation,  and 
the  Peruvian  species  of  cotton  plant  is  known  to 
exist  only  as  it  appears  under  cultivation.  Wild 
tubers  were  found  in  Peru  from  which  the  potato  was 
educed.  Now,  it  has  been  proven  by  experiment  that 
wild  potatoes  require  a  very  long  time  to  put  on 
a  civilized  complexion.  It  was  in  Peru  that  the 
potato,  as  we  know  it,  was  first  discovered.  It  was 
not  cultivated  north  of  Darien.  Raleigh  brought 
the  first  specimens  to  Ireland  in  1568,  but  it  was  not 
until  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  that  they 
came  into  general  use  in  Europe.  The  Peruvians 
practiced  irrigation  and  manured  their  crops  with 
guano." 


And  he  continues: 

"The  materials  for  this  nation  were  provided  by 
the  four  tribes — Incas,  Quichuas,  Canas,  and  Cauchis 
— scattered  over  the  northwest  of  South  America. 
They  were  all  mountaineers,  short  but  strong  and 
active,  with  soft,  brown  skins,  black  hair,  and  arched 
noses.  At  first  the  tribes  were  composed  of  clans,  but 
the  Incas  settled  in  the  lofty  valley  of  Cuzco  and 

47 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

from  that  coign  of  vantage  gradually  subdued  the 
other  tribes.  Unlike  the  Aztecs,  they  confirmed  their 
conquests,  not  by  exacting  tribute,  but  by  military 
occupation  of  the  subject  territory.  The  town  of 
Cuzco  was  built  about  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century 
and  the  work  of  internal  organization  was  begun.  It 
is  at  this  point  that  solid  historical  information  first 
comes  to  hand.  A  succession  of  head  chiefs  or  kings 
had  already  been  instituted.  These  monarchs  were 
called  Incas  par  excellence — the  Inca  of  all  minor 
Incas.  To  this  general  name,  nicknames  were  added, 
by  way  of  distinguishing  them.  Finally,  the  eighth 
of  the  line  was  called  Viracocha,  which  means  Sun- 
God,  and  indicated  that  by  that  epoch  the  Incas  had 
acquired  something  of  the  divinity  that  doth  hedge 
a  king. 

"Viracocha  annexed  the  land  of  the  Aymaras"  (in 
Bolivia),  "who  are  suspected  of  descent  from  the 
builders  of  Tiahuanucu"  (where  are  some  of  the  most 
interesting  of  the  ruins).  "In  the  next  reign  the 
strong  tribe  of  the  Chancas,  living  close  to  the 
equator,  resisted  the  march  of  conquest,  but  were 
finally  defeated  under  the  walls  of  Cuzco  and  their 
country  afterward  annexed.  The  Chimus,  who  gave 
its  name  to  Chimborazo,  were  the  next  victims  of  the 
Incas,  who  now  ruled  the  region  from  Lake  Titicaca 
to  the  equator  and  from  the  Andes  to  the  sea.  It 
was  under  the  Inca  Yupanqui  that  this  conquest  took 
place,  and  he  is  regarded  as  the  great  hero  of  Peru- 
vian history.  To  him  was  applied  the  name  Pacha- 
cutec,  Changer  of  the  World.  The  successor  of  this 
champion  extended  the  dominion  of  his  people  so  much 
farther  that  it  became  necessary  to  found  the  city  of 
Quito  to  keep  watch  over  the  northern  portion  of  the 

48 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

empire.  He  brought  in  the  valley  of  Pachacamac, 
where  there  was  an  ancient  and  desirable  temple,  and 
also  penetrated  far  into  Chile.  .  .  . 

"The  Inca  language  was  spoken  throughout  the 
empire.  Garrisons  were  distributed  at  strategic 
points  and  were  connected  by  the  famous  roads  which 
have  been  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  the  world. 
.  .  .  There  was  a  central  highway  from  Quito 
to  Cuzco,  and  thence  southward,  which  is  thus 
described  by  the  historian  Cieza"  (de  Leon):  "'I 
believe  that  since  the  history  of  man  has  been  recorded 
there  has  been  no  account  of  such  grandeur  as  is  to 
be  seen  on  this  road,  which  passes  over  deep  valleys 
and  lofty  mountains,  by  snowy  heights,  over  falls  of 
water,  through  the  living  rocks  and  along  the  edges 
of  furious  torrents.  In  all  these  places  it  is  level 
and  paved,  along  mountain  slopes  well  excavated, 
through  the  living  rock  cut,  along  the  river  banks 
supported  by  walls,  in  the  snowy  heights  with  steps 
and  resting  places,  in  all  parts  clean-swept,  clear  of 
stones,  with  posts  and  storehouses  and  temples  of  the 
sun  at  intervals.  Oh,  what  greater  thing  could  be 
said  of  Alexander,  or  of  any  of  the  powerful  kings 
that  have  ruled  in  the  world,  than  that  they  had 
made  such  a  road  as  this  and  conceived  the  works 
that  were  required  for  it!  The  roads  constructed  by 
the  Romans  in  Spain  are  not  to  be  compared  with  it.' 
The  post  houses  were  some  four  or  five  miles  apart  and 
in  each  were  two  Indians  who  carried  messages  to  and 
from  the  next  house  in  line,  whereby  the  government 
was  kept  constantly  informed  of  what  was  going  on 
in  all  parts  of  its  dominions.  In  this  way  messages 
could  travel  at  the  rate  of  nearly  a  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  a  day." 

49 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

The  Inca  deities  were  the  Sun  and  Moon. 
The  Sun  they  regarded  as  God  the  Father 
and  the  Moon  (believed  to  be  the  Sun-God's 
sister  and  wife)  as  the  Goddess-Mother.  The 
people  called  themselves  Children  of  the  Sun. 
The  reigning  Inca  was  at  once  the  Chief 
Priest  and  absolute  temporal  ruler.  Follow- 
ing their  conception  of  the  divine  relationship, 
he  could  marry  only  his  sister  of  the  full  blood 
and  only  their  eldest  son  could  inherit  the 
throne.  If  no  son  was  born  of  this  first  in- 
cestuous marriage,  or  if  he  died  and  no  other 
was  born,  the  Inca  married  the  next  sister, 
and  so  on  until  there  was  one  capable  of  in- 
heriting. But  there  were  morganatic  mar- 
riages, as  a  result  of  which  each  of  the  reign- 
ing Incas  left  numerous  sons  and  daughters, 
whose  descendants  constituted  a  privileged 
class,  and  in  the  course  of  ages  the  throne 
came  to  be  surrounded  by  thousands  of  men 
of  the  royal  blood  who  were  devoted  from 
their  birth  to  warfare,  learning,  and  state- 
craft. A  subject,  however,  could  have  more 
than  one  wife  only  by  favor  of  the  Inca.  The 
government,  though  exercised  in  a  kindly 
spirit,  as  we  are  told  by  the  ancient  chron- 
iclers, was  in  form  a  military  despotism. 

50 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

There  was  no  money  or  other  medium  of 
exchange;  gold  and  silver  were  used  only  for 
purposes  of  adornment;  such  trade  as  there 
was,  was  by  barter.  Every  man  was  obliged 
to  work  for  the  common  good  at  some  form  of 
industry  or  occupation  suitable  to  his  strength 
and  age  and,  if  able,  to  take  his  turn  at  the 
maintenance  and  extension  of  the  irrigation 
systems,  which  in  that  way  were  brought  to 
such  a  state  of  perfection  that  modern  Peru 
still  lives  on  the  half-ruined  fragments  of 
their  canals  and  conduits  and  reservoirs. 
Hardly  a  spot  of  arable  soil  was  left  uncul- 
tivated. Whole  mountains  were  terraced  for 
thousands  of  feet  up  their  sides. 

Private  ownership  in  land  did  not  exist;  it 
belonged  to  the  communes.  The  custom  was 
to  divide  it  into  tracts,  each  large  enough  to 
support  a  family,  and  parcel  it  out;  for  every 
child  born  there  was  an  additional  allotment, 
and,  at  intervals,  a  general  revision  and  redis- 
tribution. The  produce  was  divided  into  three 
parts:  one  for  the  Inca  and  his  establishment, 
one  for  the  priesthood,  and  one  for  the  com- 
mune. When  one  section  of  the  country  was 
impoverished  by  war  or  some  other  casualty, 
its  needs  were  supplied  by  assessments  levied 

51 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

on  the  others.  The  occupations  of  the  women, 
both  in  town  and  country,  were  essentially 
domestic.  Some  were  brought  up  from  child- 
hood and  specially  educated  to  serve  in  the 
religious  rites  and  in  the  household  of  the 
reigning  Inca.  These  were  known  as  Virgins 
of  the  Sun. 

The  capital,  Cuzco,  was  located  in  a  valley 
about  two  hundred  miles  northwest  of  Lake 
Titicaca  and  at  a  lower  elevation,  yet  still 
more  than  two  miles  up  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  A  colossal,  massive-walled  citadel  loomed 
over  it  from  the  heights  of  Sacsahuaman 
above  the  town.  Strong  walls  and  towers 
inclosed  it  on  every  side.  In  its  midst  was 
a  great  square,  from  which  started  the  re- 
markable roads  leading  to  the  four  corners 
of  the  empire,  referred  to  by  Hawthorne. 
One  whole  side  was  occupied  by  the  tem- 
ple, and  near  by  were  the  dwellings  of  the 
priests  and  the  palaces  of  the  Inca  and 
the  Virgins  of  the  Sun.  This  sacred  space 
was  a  citadel  in  itself,  protected  by  five  heavy 
walls. 

Describing  the  temple,  the  historian  of 
the  conquest,  Garcilaso  de  la  Vega  (and 
there  was  no  one  better  qualified  to  write  on 

52 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

the  subject,  for  he  was  himself,  on  the  mater- 
nal side,  a  grandson  of  one  of  the  last  of  the 
Inca  kings),  says  that  "All  the  four  walls 
were  covered  from  roof  to  floor  with  plates 
and  slabs  of  gold.  In  the  side,  where  we 
should  place  the  altar,  they  placed  a  figure 
of  the  Sun,  made  of  a  plate  of  gold  of  a 
thickness  double  that  of  the  other  plates 
which  covered  the  walls.  The  figure  was 
made  with  a  circular  face  and  rays  of  fire 
issuing  from  it,  all  of  one  piece,  just  as  the 
sun  is  represented  by  painters.  It  was  so 
large  as  to  occupy  one  side  of  the  temple 
from  one  wall  to  the  other."  Even  the  door- 
posts were  of  gold.  One  door,  encased  in 
silver,  led  to  a  hall  dedicated  to  the  Moon- 
Goddess,  where  the  images  and  furnishings 
were  all  of  silver,  as  were  also  the  decorations 
of  the  mummies  of  the  Incas'  wives. 

"The  walls  of  their  palaces,"  Markham 
says,  "were  built  of  stone,  of  a  dark  slate 
color,  with  recesses  and  doors  at  certain  in- 
tervals, the  sides  of  the  doors  approaching 
each  other"  (narrowing  toward  the  top)  "and 
supporting  huge  stone  lintels.  The  side  walls 
were  pierced  with  small  square  windows,  as 
in  the  ruins  of  Manco  Capac's  palace,  and  the 

53 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

roofs  were  thatched  with  the  ycha,  or  long 
grass  of  the  Andes.  The  interior  consisted  of 
several  spacious  halls,  with  smaller  rooms 
opening  into  them,  and  the  interior  walls  were 
adorned  with  golden  animals  and  flowers, 
executed  with  much  skill  and  taste.  Mirrors 
of  a  hard  stone,  highly  polished,  hung  on 
stone  pegs,  while  in  the  numerous  recesses 
were  utensils  and  conopas  (household  gods) 
of  gold  and  silver,  fantastically  designed. 
The  couches  were  of  vicuna  cloth  of  the  soft- 
est and  finest  texture." 

Of  the  palaces  of  the  Incas,  Francisco  Lo- 
pez de  Gomara  tells  us  that  "all  the  service 
of  their  house,  table  and  kitchen,  was  of  gold 
and  silver,  or  at  least  of  silver  and  copper. 
The  Inca  had  in  his  chamber  hollow  statues 
of  gold,  which  appeared  like  giants,  and  oth- 
ers naturally  imitated  from  animals,  birds, 
and  trees,  from  plants  produced  by  the  land 
and  from  such  fish  as  are  yielded  by  the 
waters  of  the  kingdom.  He  also  had  ropes, 
baskets  and  hampers  of  gold  and  silver  and 
piles  of  golden  sticks  to  imitate  fuel  prepared 
for  burning.  In  short,  there  was  nothing 
that  his  territory  produced  that  he  had  not  got 
imitated  in  gold." 

54 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

Cieza  de  Leon  says  of  the  magnificence 
of  the  harvest  festivals  celebrated  in  the 
great  plaza  of  the  temple:  "We  hold  it 
to  be  very  certain  that  neither  in  Jeru- 
salem, nor  in  Rome,  nor  in  Persia,  nor 
in  any  other  part  of  the  world,  was  such 
wealth  of  gold  and  silver  and  precious  stones 
collected  together."  In  his  later  years,  while 
living  in  Spain,  Garcilaso  de  la  Vega,  who 
had  been  just  as  enthusiastic  in  his  descrip- 
tion, and  seemed  to  fear  that  he  might  be 
suspected  of  romancing,  took  occasion  to 
write  that  "this  is  not  hard  for  those  to  be- 
lieve who  have  since  seen  so  much  gold  and 
silver  arrive  here  from  that  land.  In  the 
year  1595  alone,  within  the  space  of  eight 
months,  thirty-five  millions  of  gold  and  silver 
crossed  the  bar  of  San  Lucar  in  three  car- 
goes." 

"Many  generations  of  culture  and  Inca 
rule  had  produced  men  of  a  very  different 
physical  type,"  Markham  tells  us,  "from  the 
Peruvian  Indian  of  to-day.  We  see  the  Incas 
in  the  pictures  at  the  church  of  Santa  Ana 
at  Cuzco,"  he  continues. 

"The  color  of  the  skin  was  many  shades  lighter 
than  that  of  the  downtrodden  descendants  of  their 

55 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

subjects.  The  forehead  was  high,  the  nose  slightly 
aquiline,  the  chin  and  mouth  firm,  the  whole  face 
majestic,  refined,  and  intellectual.  The  hair  was 
gracefully  arranged,  and  around  the  head  was  the 
llantu,  the  sign  of  sovereignty.  The  llantu  appears 
to  have  been  a  short  piece  of  red  fringe  on  the  fore- 
head, fastened  around  the  head  by  two  bands.  It 
was  habitually  worn,  but,  when  praying,  the  Inca 
took  it  off  and  put  it  on  the  ground  beside  him. 
The  ceremonial  headdress  was  the  mascapaycha,  a 
golden  semicircular  miter  on  the  forehead,  to  which 
the  llantu  was  fastened.  Bright  colored  feathers 
were  fixed  on  the  sides  and  the  plume"  (of  black 
and  white  falcon  feathers,  he  says  in  another  place) 
"rose  over  the  summit.  Long  golden  eardrops  came 
down  to  the  shoulders.  The  tunic  and  mantel  varied 
in  color  and  were  made  of  the  finest  vicuna  wool.  On 
the  breast  the  Incas  wore  a  golden  semicircular  breast- 
plate, representing  the  sun,  with  a  border  of  signs 
for  the  months. 

"The  later  Incas  wore  a  very  rich  kind  of  brocade, 
in  bands  sewn  together,  forming  a  wide  belt.  The 
bands  were  in  squares,  each  with  an  ornament.  The 
material  was  called  tocapu.  Some  of  the  Incas  had 
the  whole  tunic  of  tocapu.  The  breeches  were  black 
and  in  loose  plaits  at  the  knees.  The  usutas,  or 
sandals,  were  of  white  wool.  The  Inca  clad  for  war 
had  a  large  square  shield  of  wood  or  leather.  There 
was  a  loop  of  leather  at  the  back  to  pass  the  arm 
through.  In  one  hand  was  a  wooden  staff,  about  two 
feet  long,  with  a  bronze  star,  of  six  or  eight  points, 
fastened  at  one  end — a  most  formidable  warclub. 
In  the  other  hand  was  a  long  staff  with  a  battle  axe 
fixed  at  one  end.  The  Ccoya,  or  Queen,  wore  the 

56 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

lliclla  or  mantle  fastened  across  the  chest  by  a  very 
large  golden  topu  or  pin,  with  head  elaborately 
carved  with  ornaments  and  figures.  The  lliclla  or 
mantle  and  acsu  or  skirt  varied  as  regards  color. 
The  head  was  adorned  with  golden  circlets  and 
flowers.  .  .  .  The  nobles  wore  headdresses  of  egret 
feathers  and  gold  breastplates  over  their  tunics.  The 
princesses  wore  long  mantles  of  various  colors,  and 
the  Virgins  of  the  Sun  long  white  mantles,  secured 
across  the  bosom  by  large  gold  pins." 

Mozans,  writing  of  the  spot  they  held  most 
sacred  of  all,  says: 

"It  would  be  difficult  to  find  any  place  in  the  world 
richer  in  legends  and  traditions  than  is  Lake  Titicaca. 
Every  cove  and  inlet,  every  rock  and  island  has  its 
myth,  and  many  of  these  places  were  held  in  special 
veneration  by  the  Incas  for  long  generations.  This 
was  especially  true  of  two  islands — Titicaca,  sacred 
to  the  Sun,  and  Coati,  sacred  to  the  Moon,  the  Sun's 
sister.  What  a  fascination  there  was  about  these 
two  islands !  Beholding  the  cradle  and  sanctuary  of 
Inca  civilization,  it  was  easy  to  fancy  oneself  a  spec- 
tator of  one  of  those  long  processions  of  reed  balsas" 
(boats)  "conveying  the  children  of  the  Sun  from 
the  mainland  to  the  sacred  islands  of  their  race,  where 
were  the  rich  temples  dedicated  to  their  Sun-Father 
and  Moon-Mother.  Adorned  with  gorgeous  trap- 
pings of  gold  and  silver — royal  colors — the  Inca's 
barge,  manned  by  stalwart  young  oarsmen,  specially 
selected  for  this  service,  led  the  way.  Immediately 
following  the  Sphinxlike  Inca  came  the  members  of 
his  court  arrayed  in  gaudy  vesture.  Next  to  them 

57 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

were  the  ministers  of  the  temple  and  the  officers  of  the 
army,  gleaming  in  barbaric  attire.  The  rear  of  the 
procession  was  made  up  of  the  humble  tillers  of  the 
soil,  who  had  gathered  from  all  parts  to  greet  their 
idolized  ruler  and  to  swell  the  number  of  worshipers 
congregated  about  the  effigies  of  the  Sun  and  Moon, 
or  in  front  of  the  sacred  rock  decked  with  richest 
tissues  and  plates  of  burnished  silver  and  gold.  .  .  . 
"In  these  temples  and  palaces,  according  to  the 
old  chroniclers,  were  immense  treasures,  rivaling  those 
in  the  temples  of  Cuzco.  The  riches  in  the  temple  of 
the  Sun  were  especially  great,  for  'here,'  writes  Gar- 
cilaso,  'all  the  vassals  of  the  Inca  offered  up  much 
gold  and  silver  and  precious  stones  every  year,  as 
a  token  of  gratitude  to  the  Sun  for  the  two  acts 
of  grace  that  had  taken  place  on  that  spot.  This 
temple  had  the  same  service  as  that  of  Cuzco.  There 
was  said  to  be  such  quantity  of  gold  and  silver  heaped 
up  in  the  island,  besides  what  was  worked  for  the  use 
of  the  temple,  that  the  stories  of  the  Indians  con- 
cerning it  are  more  wonderful  than  credible.  Father 
Bias  Valera,  one  of  the  earliest  Spanish  chroniclers, 
says  that  the  Indian  colonists,  called  Mitimaes,  who 
lived  in  Copocabana,  declared  that  the  quantity  of 
gold  and  silver  heaped  up  as  offerings  was  so  great 
that  another  temple  might  have  been  made  of  it,  from 
the  foundations  to  the  roof,  without  using  any  other 
materials.  But  as  soon  as  the  Indians  heard  of  the 
invasion  of  the  country  by  the  Spaniards,  and  that 
they  were  seizing  all  the  treasure  they  could  find,  they 
threw  the  whole  of  it  into  the  great  lake.'  ' 


58 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

VII 

Fortunately  for  Pizarro,  at  the  time  he 
made  his  appearance  on  the  scene,  it  hap- 
pened that  these  people  were  either  still  en- 
gaged in  or  had  only  just  terminated  a  civil 
war  that  had  been  brought  on  by  an  attempt 
of  Huascar,  the  then  reigning  Inca,  to  im- 
pose his  will  on  his  half-brother,  Atahualpa, 
a  rebellious  vassal.  It  appears  that  Huas- 
car's  father,  the  Inca  Huayna  Capac,  hav- 
ing completed  the  subjugation  of  the  Caras 
and  their  brave  allies  in  Ecuador,  had  found 
it  necessary  to  remain  in  Quito  nearly  all  the 
rest  of  his  life,  to  keep  the  inhabitants  in 
subjection  and  suppress  revolts  that  fre- 
quently occurred.  As  a  political  move,  per- 
haps, he  had  married  the  daughter  and  heiress 
of  the  defeated  Shiri  and  by  her  had  had  a 
son.  This  was  Atahualpa.  As  he,  too,  had 
continued  to  live  in  Quito,  he  had  come  to  be 
regarded  rather  as  a  scion  of  the  ancient 
Shiri  dynasty  than  as  a  prince  of  an  alien 
conquering  house. 

And  so  when  in  1525  Huayna  Capac  died, 
he  left  this  northern  kingdom  to  Atahualpa 
and  only  the  southern  to  Huascar,  his  eldest 

59 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

son  of  the  full  Inca  blood,  born  of  his  sister- 
wife;  but,  to  preserve  some  sort  of  unity  in 
the  empire,  he  commanded  that  Huascar,  as 
the  only  legitimate  heir,  should  be  paramount. 
Huascar,  nevertheless,  had  declined  to  ac- 
quiesce in  any  such  virtual  division  of  do- 
minions that  he  regarded  as  his  by  right  of 
succession,  and  at  the  first  opportunity  had 
quarreled  with  Atahualpa  and  invaded  the 
territory  apportioned  to  him.  In  the  battles 
that  followed  Atahualpa's  forces  had  been 
uniformly  victorious,  for,  always  superior  in 
prowess  to  the  now  more  effete  soldiery  that 
had  defeated  them  in  their  former  less  organ- 
ized state,  years  of  Inca  rule  had  taught  these 
northerners  how  to  make  better  avail  of  their 
energy  and  courage.  Suffering  enormous 
losses  in  every  engagement,  the  forces  of 
Huascar  had  been  driven  farther  and  farther 
south,  until  at  last,  in  spite  of  reinforcements 
which,  it  is  said,  brought  his  army  up  to  fully 
seventy  thousand,  he  was  beaten  before  the 
walls  of  his  capital  and  made  prisoner. 

As  soon  as  his  capture  had  become  known, 
what  was  left  of  his  army  had  dispersed,  the 
city  had  surrendered,  and  Atahualpa,  if  we 
are  to  believe  the  chroniclers,  had  taken  a  ter- 

60 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

rible  revenge,  first  causing  all  Huascar's  sub- 
jects that  were  of  royal  blood,  and  who 
could  be  found,  to  be  put  to  death,  and 
afterward  the  captured  officers  who  had 
fought  for  him.  His  cruelty,  Garcilaso 
de  la  Vega  tells  us,  "was  greater  than  that 
of  the  Turks.  Not  content  with  the  blood  of 
his  own  two  hundred  brothers,  the  sons  of  the 
great  Huayna  Capac,  he  passed  on  to  drink 
that  of  his  uncles,  nephews,  and  other  rela- 
tions, so  that  none  of  the  blood  royal  might 
escape,  whether  legitimate  or  not.  They  were 
all  murdered  in  different  ways.  .  .  .  He 
ordered  all  the  women  and  children"  (of 
royal  blood)  "to  be  assembled,  of  whatever 
age  and  condition,  reserving  only  those  who 
were  dedicated  to  the  Sun  in  the  convent  of 
Cuzco.  He  ordered  that  they  should  be  killed 
outside  the  city,  by  little  and  little,  and  by 
various  cruel  tortures,  so  that  they  might  be 
long  in  dying." 

When  Pizarro  and  his  party  reached 
Tumbez,  Atahualpa,  accompanied  by  a  small 
army,  was  at  the  baths  near  Cajamarca,  a 
town  on  the  Peruvian  plateau  not  far  from 
the  Ecuadorian  boundary.  It  was  to  him 
there  that  the  report  came  that  strangers  had 

61 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

landed — strangers  of  a  different  color,  who 
had  long  hair  on  their  chins  and  wore  strange 
clothing  and  armor,  who  had  weapons  differ- 
ent from  any  that  had  been  seen  in  the  land 
and  bestrode  terrible  monsters  that  carried 
them  over  the  ground  with  incredible  speed. 
The  effect  of  such  startling  news  may  be  im- 
agined. Pizarro,  however,  after  having  fully 
informed  himself  respecting  the  political 
status  of  affairs,  thought  he  saw  an  opportu- 
nity to  further  his  ends  by  diplomacy  and 
protested  that  his  mission  was  a  friendly  one. 
It  would  seem  that  Atahualpa  must  have 
realized  that  the  strangers  were  far  more  for- 
midable than  was  indicated  by  their  mere 
number,  for  he  sent  his  brother  Titu  to  wel- 
come them  and  make  inquiries  as  to  their  de- 
sires and  the  purpose  of  their  visit.  By  him 
Pizarro,  having  first  expressed  his  thanks, 
sent  a  message  to  the  effect  that  he  would  go 
at  once  to  Cajamarca  and  call  on  Atahualpa 
in  person.  What  then  occurred  is  thus  related 
by  Dawson: 

"On  receiving  Pizarro's  answer  to  his  friendly  mes- 
sage, Atahualpa  resolved  to  await  the  promised  visit, 
apparently  suspecting  no  evil.  The  audacious  Span- 
iard had,  however,  conceived  the  design  of  capturing 

62 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

the  victorious  claimant  of  the  throne  of  the  Incas, 
well  knowing  that  in  its  actual  distracted  condition 
the  country  would  be  left  without  a  center  about 
which  it  could  rally.  Open  war,  no  matter  how  over- 
whelming his  first  victory  might  be,  could  hardly  be 
ultimately  successful.  Atahualpa,  once  safe  at  Cuzco 
or  Quito,  and  surrounded  by  the  disciplined  soldiers 
who  had  overthrown  Huascar,  a  defensive  campaign 
might  be  undertaken  in  which  Pizarro  would  find 
every  step  toward  either  capital  bitterly  disputed. 
Hundreds  of  thousands  of  Peruvians  pouring  up  from 
the  numberless  provinces  of  the  empire  would  be 
thrown  in  a  never  ceasing  succession  of  armies  against 
the  little  band  of  Spaniards  and  the  latter  would 
infallibly  be  driven  back  to  the  coast  by  starvation 
and  fatigue,  if  not  by  defeat  in  the  field. 

"Apparently  foolhardy,  in  fact  Pizarro's  plan  of- 
fered the  only  chance  of  success.  Never  dreaming 
that  such  a  step  was  in  contemplation,  Atahualpa  took 
no  precautions.  Leaving  fifty-five  men  at  the  little 
port 'of  San  Miguel  in  the  Paita  valley  to  secure  his 
retreat,  Pizarro  marched  south  with  one  hundred 
and  two  foot  soldiers,  sixty-two  horses,  and  two  small 
cannon,  two  hundred  miles  along  the  coast  plain  to 
a  point  opposite  Cajamarca,  and  ascended  along  an 
Inca  military  road,  meeting  a  friendly  reception  from 
the  wondering  natives,  and  supplied  with  provisions 
by  Atahualpa's  orders.  On  the  15th  of  September, 
1532,  he  entered  Cajamarca.  He  found  an  open 
square  in  the  middle  of  the  town,  surrounded  by  walls 
and  solid  stone  buildings,  which  he  received  permission 
to  occupy  as  quarters.  From  his  camp  outside  Ata- 
hualpa sent  word  that  on  the  following  day  he  would 
enter  the  town  in  state  and  receive  the  Spaniards. 

63 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

"Marvelous  good  fortune  favored  Pizarro's  designs. 
The  Indians  had  furnished  a  trap  all  ready  made,  and 
now  Atahualpa  deliberately  walked  into  it.  On  the 
morning  of  the  16th  the  Indian  army  broke  camp  and 
marched  to  Caj  amarca,  followed  by  the  Emperor,  who 
was  borne  in  a  litter  and  surrounded  by  his  personal 
attendants,  the  great  chiefs  and  the  nobles  belonging 
to  his  own  lineage."  (Those  belonging  to  Huascar's 
he  had  caused  to  be  killed.)  "At  sunset  he  entered 
the  square,  accompanied  only  by  these  unarmed  at- 
tendants and  found  Pizarro  and  a  few  Spaniards 
awaiting  him.  The  rest  were  hidden  in  the  houses 
around  the  square  with  their  horses  saddled,  their 
breastplates  on,  and  musketry  and  cannon  ready 
charged.  From  among  the  group  that  surrounded 
Pizarro,  stepped  forward  Friar  Valverde  and  ap- 
proached the  Inca  monarch,  who,  reclining  in  a  litter 
raised  high  above  the  crowd  on  the  shoulders  of  his 
attendants,  waited  with  dignity  to  hear  what  these 
strangers  had  to  say. 

"The  priest  advanced  with  a  cross  in  one  hand  and 
a  Bible  in  the  other  and  began  a  harangue  which, 
clumsily  translated  by  an  Indian  boy,  the  Inca  hardly 
understood.  But  in  a  few  moments  he  realized  that 
this  uncouth  jargon  was  meant  to  convey  an  arrogant 
demand  that  he  acknowledge  himself  a  vassal  of 
Charles  V  and  submit  to  baptism.  With  haughty 
surprise,  he  threw  'down  the  book  Valverde  tried  to 
force  into  his  hand.  The  priest  shouted:  'Fall  on, 
Castilians — I  absolve  you ! '  and  into  the  helpless 
crowd  burst  a  murderous  fire  from  the  doors  of  the 
houses  all  around.  Aghast  and  bewildered  by  this 
display  of  powers  which  to  them  seemed  necromantic, 
the  survivors  nevertheless  stood  manfully  to  the  at- 

64 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

tack  of  the  mail-clad  horsemen  who  rode  into  the 
huddled  masses,  ferociously  slashing  and  slaughtering. 
The  Indians  strove  desperately  to  drag  the  Spaniards 
from  the  horses  with  their  naked  hands  and  interposed 
a  living  wall  of  human  flesh  between  the  murderers 
and  their  beloved  sovereign.  At  length  Pizarro's  own 
hands  snatched  Atahualpa  from  the  litter.  The 
Indian  soldiers  outside,  hearing  the  firearms  and  the 
noise  of  the  struggle,  tried  to  force  their  way  into 
the  square,  but  the  Spanish  musketry  and  cannon 
mowed  them  down  by  hundreds  and  they  fled  before 
the  charges  of  the  cavalry,  dispersing  in  the  twilight." 

Atahualpa  was  then  confined  in  a  small 
stone  house  adjoining  the  palace  of  the  Vir- 
gins of  the  Sun  (the  latter  is  now  a  convent, 
occupied  by  Sisters  of  Charity),  and  every 
precaution  possible  under  the  circumstances 
was  taken  to  prevent  his  rescue.  Pizarro's 
next  move  in  the  conquest  was  to  murder  him. 
But,  in  the  meanwhile,  he  had  suggested  in 
conversations  with  his  prisoner  that  Huascar's 
followers  would  probably  take  advantage  of 
the  opportunity  afforded  by  his  capture  to 
reorganize  their  scattered  forces  and  make  an 
effort  to  regain  the  throne;  he  had  hinted, 
too,  at  the  advisability  of  arbitration,  and 
Atahualpa  had  taken  alarm  and  secretly  or- 
dered Huascar's  execution;  whereupon  Pi- 
zarro  had  feigned  the  greatest  indignation 

65 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

and  had  contrived  to  frighten  his  victim  into 
offering  his  famous  ransom.  "I  will  fill  this 
room  with  gold,"  he  said,  "as  high  as  I  can 
reach,  if  only  you  will  liberate  me."  (The 
room  in  which  he  was  confined  was  32  feet 
9  inches  long,  20  feet  9  inches  wide,  and  10 
feet  9  inches  high.)  Pizarro  accepted,  a  truce 
was  agreed  upon,  Atahualpa  ordered  all 
preparations  for  war  on  the  Spaniards  to  be 
suspended,  and  arranged  for  the  collection  of 
the  gold.  When  the  amount  stipulated  for 
was  at  last  assembled,  it  was  found  to  have 
a  value  equivalent  to  more  than  seventeen 
millions  of  dollars  in  our  currency.  Some 
historians  say  much  more.  Dawson,  for  in- 
stance, says  it  was  more  than  twenty-two 
millions.  One-fifth  was  sent  to  the  royal 
treasury  in  Spain  and  the  rest  was  divided 
among  the  adventurers.  The  share  of  the 
private  soldiers  even  was  large  enough  to 
make  each  of  them  rich  for  life. 

Nevertheless,  Pizarro  had  not  performed 
his  part  of  the  agreement  by  setting  his  pris- 
oner at  liberty.  Whether  or  not  he  had  ever 
intended  to  can  only  be  conjectured.  It  is 
clear  only  that,  even  if  he  did  enter  into  the 
agreement  in  bad  faith,  as  was  charged  by  the 

66 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

chroniclers,  he  was  afterward  confronted  by 
a  problem  which,  in  the  opinion  of  recent 
writers,  justified  his  perfidious  behavior. 
Quizquiz,  the  general  whose  ability  had  en- 
abled Atahualpa  so  often  to  defeat  his  late 
rival,  was  known  to  have  taken  the  field  with 
a  large  body  of  troops.  Could  a  man  such  as 
Atahualpa  had  proven  himself  to  be,  re- 
leased and  at  the  head  of  a  great  army  once 
more,  be  expected  to  permit  these  foreigners, 
who  had  so  treacherously  captured  him  and 
slain  his  attendants  while  on  a  friendly  visit, 
to  depart  in  peace  with  their  loot?  It  did  not 
seem  likely.  On  the  other  hand,  retreat 
through  a  then  hostile  country  with  the  pris- 
oner still  in  custody  was  out  of  the  question, 
and,  if  he  should  continue  to  hold  him  in  Ca- 
jamarca,  Quizquiz,  who  had  only  been  await- 
ing the  word,  would  no  longer  hesitate  to 
attack. 

No;  a  bold  coup  de  main  of  some  sort  was 
imperative.  If  Atahualpa  could  be  gotten  rid 
of  altogether,  for  instance,  there  was  a  chance, 
in  the  confusion  that  must  follow,  to  reach 
Cuzco  and  form  an  alliance  with  the  par- 
tisans of  the  murdered  Inca,  with  a  view  to 
ousting  the  usurper's  party  and  restoring  the 

67 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

throne  to  the  legitimate  line.  Such  a  chance 
had  only  to  exist  to  be  appreciated  by  one  so 
clear-sighted  and  audacious  as  Pizarro.  It 
was  his  life  and  his  friends' — and,  of  course, 
the  Indian  treasure — against  only  the  life  of 
Atahualpa,  and  the  prisoner's  fate  was  sealed. 
There  was  a  mock  trial,  wherein  he  was  con- 
victed of  the  murder  of  Huascar,  conspiracy 
against  the  Spaniards,  and  other  high  crimes 
and  misdemeanors,  and  then  he  was  strangled 
to  death  in  the  public  square — strangled 
rather  than  burned,  says  Hawthorne,  as  an 
act  of  grace,  in  consideration  of  his  having 
professed  at  the  last  the  Christian  faith. 

Some  weeks  before  this,  Almagro  had 
joined  the  Conquistadores  at  Cajamarca  with 
reinforcements  that  brought  the  Spanish 
force  up  to  about  five  hundred.  As  soon  as 
Atahualpa  had  been  disposed  of,  the  com- 
mander, with  all  his  men,  began  his  advance, 
by  forced  marches,  on  Cuzco,  an  advantageous 
position  near  which  he  was  fortunate  enough 
to  secure  without  having  encountered  Quiz- 
quiz,  though  some  of  the  cavalry  under  De 
Soto  were  engaged  by  a  detachment  on  the 
way;  all  efforts  to  interpose  the  main  body 
of  the  Indian  army  were  frustrated  by  their 

68 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

speed.  However,  though  "the  true  heir  to 
the  crown  was  a  second  son  of  Huayna  Capac, 
named  Manco,  a  legitimate  brother  of  the 
unfortunate  Huascar,"  says  Prescott,  "Pi- 
zarro  had  too  little  knowledge  of  the  dispo- 
sition of  this  prince  and  he  made  no  scruple 
to  prefer  Toparca,  a  young  brother  of  Ata- 
hualpa  and  to  present  him  to  the  Indian 
nobles  as  their  future  Inca."  So,  to  make 
assurance  doubly  sure,  he  did  not,  before  he 
set  out,  announce  his  purpose  of  driving  off 
the  enemies  of  the  rightful  heir,  but  took  the 
boy  with  him,  "attended  by  a  numerous 
retinue  of  vassals  and  moving  in  as  much 
state  and  ceremony  as  if  in  possession  of  regal 
power."  Before  they  reached  Cuzco,  much 
to  Pizarro's  chagrin,  the  boy  fell  sick  and 
died. 

But  the  misfortune  was  soon  repaired,  for, 
sure  enough,  when  the  adventurers  went  into 
camp  outside  the  walls  of  the  capital,  no  less 
a  personage  than  Manco  Capac  II  himself 
called  on  the  commander  in  person  and  pro- 
posed the  hoped-for  alliance;  and,  just  a  year 
from  the  day  he  had  taken  Cajamarca,  he 
entered  Cuzco  as  the  protector  of  the  real 
Inca,  whose  coronation  he  permitted  to  be 

69 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

celebrated  with  all  the  splendor  of  the  ancient 
rites.  The  Indians  of  central  Peru  hailed 
him  as  their  deliverer  from  the  tyranny  of  the 
usurper.  Manco  Capac,  for  his  part,  soon 
assembled  a  great  army,  and,  with  the  help  of 
some  of  the  Spaniards,  decisively  defeated 
Quizquiz  and  drove  him  back  to  Ecuador. 


VIII 

But  there  was  a  sad  awakening  in  store  for 
the  Inca  on  his  return  from  that  victorious 
campaign.  He  had  permitted  these  allies  of 
his — rapacious,  recklessly  daring  as  they  were, 
and  unscrupulous,  cruel,  and  fanatical  in  their 
attitude  toward  infidels — to  obtain  a  foothold 
in  the  very  capital  of  the  empire.  And  what 
manner  of  man  was  it  of  whom  the  great 
body  of  his  subjects  was  made  up?  He  was 
brave,  yes — physically;  he  could  fight,  and 
conquer,  too,  when  ably  led,  but  also  he  was 
morally  utterly  irresponsible,  "a  slave,"  as 
Mozans  puts  it,  "utterly  devoid  of  energy 
and  individual  initiative,"  accustomed  to  look 
to  the  ruling  class  for  guidance,  to  regard  the 
Inca  "with  superstitious  awe,  as  a  being  of  a 
superior  order."  Centuries  of  despotic  gov- 

70 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

ernment,  rigid  religious  ritual,  communal 
ownership  of  property,  and  labor,  not  for 
himself  but  for  the  commonwealth,  had 
robbed  him  of  all  ambition  and  instilled  into 
him  the  habit  of  accepting  with  patient  res- 
ignation whatever  fate  might  decree. 

And  now,  after  all  these  centuries  of  com- 
plaisance, what  must  have  been  his  mental  at- 
titude at  the  end  of  such  a  succession  of 
events?  First,  the  late  legitimate  Inca  Huas- 
car,  omnipotent  as  he  was  supposed  to  have 
been,  directly  descended  from  the  Sun-God 
and  Moon-Mother  themselves,  had  been  over- 
thrown and  put  to  death  by  an  illegitimate 
rival.  Then  that  rival,  also  of  the  Inca  blood, 
had  in  his  turn  been  captured  in  the  very  face 
of  his  army,  and  put  to  death  despite  another 
and  much  greater  army,  by  a  little  band  of 
mysterious  strangers,  against  whose  mail-clad 
bodies  the  battle-axes  and  spears  of  the  In- 
dians had  been  powerless — strangers  who 
had  made  fierce,  "fleet-footed  monsters" 
(horses)  subservient  to  their  will  and  who 
carried  terrible  weapons  that  went  off  with  a 
noise  like  thunder  and  vomited  fire  and 
smoke,  and  with  which  they  killed  their  ene- 
mies before  they  could  come  near  enough  to 

71 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

get  in  a  blow.  Had  not  these  invincible 
strangers,  and  apparently  by  supernatural 
means,  overcome  even  the  legitimate  Inca's 
conqueror?  Surely,  then,  they  must  be  some 
still  superior  order  of  beings,  sent  by  the  Sun- 
God  to  accomplish  some  wonderful  purpose. 
Therefore  they  must  be  obeyed.  Pizarro 
himself  could  not  have  created  a  people  more 
suited  to  the  carrying  out  of  his  designs  had 
he  had  the  power. 

Probably  realizing  this,  he  promptly  aban- 
doned all  subterfuge.  As  a  consideration  for 
the  help  he  had  been  given  in  the  campaign 
against  Quizquiz,  the  Inca  had  been  induced 
by  stress  of  circumstances  to  acknowledge  the 
supremacy  of  the  King  of  Spain.  It  was 
only  as  a  matter  of  form,  he  had  been  led  to 
believe,  but  Pizarro  now  exacted  the  fullest 
compliance.  As  Adelantado  by  appointment 
of  the  overlord,  he  established  a  municipal 
council  to  govern  the  city,  transformed  the 
great  temple  into  a  church,  made  use  of  cer- 
tain of  the  public  buildings  as  officers'  quar- 
ters and  barracks  for  the  soldiers,  seized  all 
the  treasure  that  was  to  be  found — even  the 
private  dwellings  and  tombs  were  searched 
and  stripped  of  it — and  required  the  authori- 

72 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

ties  to  supply  troops  and  carriers  to  accom- 
pany the  exploring  parties  he  sent  out.  "Pi- 
zarro,  on  entering  Cuzco,  had  issued  an  order 
forbidding  any  soldier  to  offer  violence  to  the 
dwellings  of  the  inhabitants,"  says  Prescott: 

"But  the  palaces  were  numerous  and  the  troops 
lost  no  time  in  plundering  them  of  their  contents  as 
well  as  in  despoiling  the  religious  edifices.  The  in- 
terior decorations  supplied  them  with  considerable 
booty.  They  stripped  off  the  jewels  and  rich  orna- 
ments that  garnished  the  royal  mummies  in  the 
temple  of  Coricancha.  Indignant  at  the  conceal- 
ment of  their  treasures,  they  put  the  inhabitants,  in 
some  instances,  to  the  torture  and  endeavored .  to 
extort  from  them  a  confession  of  their  hiding  places. 
They  invaded  the  repose  of  the  sepulchers,  in  which 
the  Peruvians  often  deposited  their  valuable  effects, 
and  compelled  the  grave  to  give  up  its  dead.  No 
place  was  left  unexplored  by  the  rapacious  conquerors, 
and  they  occasionally  stumbled  on  a  mine  of  wealth 
that  rewarded  their  labors.  In  a  cavern  near  the  city 
they  found  a  number  of  vases,  richly  embossed  with 
figures  of  serpents,  locusts,  and  other  animals.  Among 
the  spoils  were  four  golden  llamas  and  ten  or  twelve 
statues  of  women,  as  large  as  life,  some  of  gold,  others 
of  silver,  'which  merely  to  see,'  says  one  of  the  con- 
querors, with  some  naivete,  'was  truly  a  great  satis- 
faction.' .  .  .  The  magazines  were  stored  with  curi- 
ous commodities — richly  tinted  robes  of  cotton  and 
feather  work,  gold  sandals  and  slippers  of  the  same 
material,  for  the  women,  and  dresses  composed  en- 
tirely of  beads  of  gold.'  ...  In  one  place,  for 

73 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

example,  they  met  with  ten  planks  or  bars  of  solid 
silver,  each  piece  twenty  feet  in  length,  one  foot 
in  breadth,  and  two  or  three  inches  thick.  They  were 
intended  to  decorate  the  dwelling  of  an  Inca  noble. 
.  .  .  The  amount  of  booty  is  stated  variously  by 
those  present  at  the  division  of  it.  According  to 
some,  it  considerably  exceeded  the  ransom  of  Ata- 
hualpa." 

Fully  appreciating  also  the  desirability  of 
establishing  a  capital  of  his  own  at  some 
strategic  point  much  more  easily  accessible 
from  Panama,  Pizarro  made  a  careful  study 
of  routes  and  possible  sites  and  finally  chose 
one  beside  the  river  Rimac,  on  a  fertile,  ele- 
vated plain  near  the  base  of  the  Cordillera, 
only  about  three  leagues  from  one  of  the  best 
harbors  on  the  coast,  and  at  the  point  where 
the  Inca  military  road  began  its  ascent  to  the 
plateau.  Here,  only  about  a  year  after  he 
entered  Cuzco,  he  founded  La  Ciudad  de  los 
It  eyes  (the  City  of  the  Kings),  so  named  in 
honor  of  the  Three  Kings  or  Wise  Men  of  the 
East,  because  their  feast  day,  Epiphany,  oc- 
curred at  that  season  of  the  year.  Soon  it  be- 
came known  as  Lima.  "Before  the  erection  of 
a  single  house  was  permitted,"  he  had  a  plan 
drawn  up,  Mozans  tells  us,  providing  for 
large  squares  and  streets  unusually  wide,  "and 

74 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

in  making  this  plan  he  had  in  view,  not  the 
small  number  (only  sixty-nine)  of  those  who 
were  then  prepared  to  make  their  homes 
there,  but  the  future  greatness  of  'The  Em- 
pire City  of  the  New  World.'  Moreover, 
as  the  city  had  to  be  in  God  and  for  God  and 
in  His  name — en  Dios  y  por  Dios  y  en  su 
nombre — to  use  his  own  words,  work  was 
first  begun  on  the  church,  which  was  named 
Nuestra  Senora  de  la  Asuncion.  The  first 
stone  and  the  first  pieces  of  timber  were  put 
in  place  by  the  hands  of  the  Adelantado  him- 
self, who  wished,  like  the  other  Conquista- 
dores,  to  emphasize  his  zeal  for  religion  and 
his  devotion  to  La  Santissima  Virgen,  Madre 
de  Dios" 

In  the  meanwhile  his  brother  Hernando 
had  gone  to  Spain  with  the  King's  fifth  of 
the  loot,  and  on  the  way  had  spread  the 
news.  Once  more  all  was  excitement  on  the 
Isthmus.  It  was  not  long  before  Pizarro's 
forces  were  augmented  by  three  or  four 
hundred  soldiers  that  had  been  led  into 
Ecuador  by  Pedro  de  Alvarado,  Governor  of 
Guatemala,  who  consented  to  abandon  his 
expedition  when  persuaded  by  Almagro,  who 
went  at  once  to  meet  him,  that  he  was  tres- 

75 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

passing  on  Pizarro's  preserves,  for  which  act 
of  grace  the  Spanish  King  added  the  province 
of  Honduras  to  Alvarado's  jurisdiction,  and 
Almagro  gave  him  a  large  sum  of  money ;  and, 
when  communication  was  established  between 
Lima  and  Panama  by  sea,  adventurers  of 
every  degree  began  to  flock  to  the  new  city 
as  they  had  before  to  Mexico  and  Central 
America. 

This  enabled  Almagro,  with  an  army  of 
nearly  six  hundred  Spaniards  and  fifteen 
thousand  Indians,  the  latter  under  the  com- 
mand of  one  of  the  Inca's  brothers,  to  make 
an  excursion  into  Chile  for  purposes  of  ex- 
ploration, for  it  had  been  agreed  that  he 
should  have  the  southern  half  of  the  territory 
they  might  conquer  and  Pizarro  the  northern. 
Sebastian  de  Benalcazar,  another  of  Pizarro's 
lieutenants,  went  to  Ecuador  with  a  force  of 
two  hundred  Spaniards  and  a  large  Indian 
contingent  and  completed  the  defeat  of  Ata- 
hualpa's  adherents,  took  possession  of  Quito 
and  founded  the  city  of  Guayaquil  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Guayas  River,  which  provided 
for  that  country,  too,  independent  access  from 
the  sea. 

Also  by  this  time  any  illusions  the  Inca 
76 


1 


CATHEDRAL    AT    LIMA.    BUILT    BY    PIZARRO. 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

may  have  had  as  to  the  continuance  of  the 
ancient  dynasty  under  the  protection  of  the 
Spaniards  were  dispelled.  By  this  time  even 
his  complaisant  subjects  must  have  discovered 
that  these  superhuman  deliverers,  as  they  had 
thought  them,  were  mere  men — or  else,  if  they 
were  indeed  a  different  order  of  beings,  that 
order,  they  must  have  concluded,  was  infernal 
rather  than  divine.  The  sovereignty  of  the 
Inca  had  become  little  more  than  a  fiction. 
As  in  the  islands  of  the  Caribbean  and  else- 
where, the  fairest  lands  in  the  country  had 
been  divided  into  vast  estates  and  great  num- 
bers of  natives  practically  reduced  to  slav- 
ery and  set  to  work  them  for  the  benefit  of 
their  new  masters.  With  respect  to  their 
treatment  in  general,  though  Pizarro  him- 
self seems  to  have  been  guilty  of  few  acts 
of  wanton  cruelty,  he  either  could  not,  or 
did  not  if  he  could,  restrain  the  oppression 
of  them  by  his  followers.  If  their  behavior 
was  not  quite  as  atrocious  as  that  of  other 
Spaniards  toward  the  tribes  in  the  north, 
there  was  an  utter  lack  of  considerateness  in 
it  and  disregard  of  their  property  and  rights 
that  galled  even  them. 

Roused  at  last,  the  Inca  took  advantage 
77 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

of  the  opportunity  afforded  by  the  scatter- 
ing of  the  Spanish  force  and  made  his  escape 
from  Cuzco,  where  Hernando  Pizarro  and 
his  younger  brothers  Juan  and  Gonzalo  were 
in  command,  and,  finding  his  subjects  ripe  for 
revolt,  had  no  difficulty  in  raising  two  large 
armies.  One  he  sent  against  the  Adelantado, 
who  was  in  Lima;  with  the  other  he  returned 
to  Cuzco  and  took  the  great  citadel  of 
Sacsahuaman,  overlooking  the  town,  and  be- 
gan a  siege  that  was  to  last  more  than  six 
months,  and  during  which  Juan  Pizarro  was 
killed  in  an  attempt  to  recapture  the  citadel. 
The  army  that  went  to  the  coast  was  am- 
'bushed  and  defeated  by  the  Spaniards  and 
their  local  adherents  before  ever  it  reached 
Lima.  All  that  what  was  left  of  it  could 

ft 

do  was  to  prevent  the  sending  of  reinforce- 
ments to  Cuzco  despite  the  desperate  straits 
to  which  the  Spanish  force  there  was  reduced. 
Pizarro  was  himself  compelled  to  send  to 
the  Isthmus  for  help.  Just  before  it  was  too 
late,  however,  he  managed  to  get  away  two 
hundred  and  fifty  men  to  the  relief  of  his 
brothers,  and  just  at  that  juncture  also,  Al- 
magro,  on  his  way  back  from  Chile,  turned 
up  with  his  followers,  and,  caught  between 

78 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

Cuzco  and  these  two  new  detachments  of  the 
enemy,  the  Inca  was  overwhelmed  and  con- 
cluded to  retire  into  the  wild  region  of  Vilca- 
bamba,  where  the  Spaniards  could  not  follow 
with  any  hope  of  success,  and  there  held  out 
for  some  years.  But  with  his  retreat  all  that 
remained  of  the  Inca  dominion  came  to  an 
end.  There  were  a  few  other  attempts,  but 
neither  he  nor  his  descendants  ever  succeeded 
in  recovering  the  throne. 

As  for  Almagro,  he  had  had  a  frightful 
experience  during  his  excursion  into  Chile 
and  had  met  with  nothing  but  disappointment 
and  disaster.  The  route  unwittingly  chosen 
had  been  over  the  bleak  Bolivian  plateaux 
and  across  the  mountains  where  the  Cordillera 
reaches  its  highest,  at  a  season  when  the 
passes  are  buried  in  snow  and  swept  by 
furious  storms,  and  his  men  had  perished 
by  thousands,  some  of  the  best  of  his  Span- 
iards among  the  number.  When  he  had  at 
last  made  his  way  to  the  beautiful  central  val- 
ley between  the  Cordillera  and  the  coast  range 
and  down  to  the  river  Maule,  he  had  found 
nothing  of  the  opulence  of  Peru,  but  only 
a  poor  but  brave,  warlike  people  who  in  a 
fierce  battle  had  succeeded  in  checking  his 

79 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

advance.  And  now,  disgusted  with  this 
country  of  his  to  the  south,  he  returned  and 
made  claim  to  Cuzco  as  being  within  his  half 
of  the  conquered  territory  and  demanded  of 
the  Pizarros  its  surrender.  On  their  refusal, 
he  promptly  carried  it  by  assault,  made 
Hernando  and  Gonzalo  his  prisoners,  and 
went  out  to  meet  the  troops  that  had  been 
sent  to  their  relief  by  the  Adelantado  and 
defeated  them. 

And  then,  as  Hawthorne  puts  it,  "had  he 
cut  off  the  heads  of  both  of  these  gentlemen 
on  the  spot,  he  would  have  saved  himself 
years  of  struggle,  with  a  death  on  the  scaffold 
at  the  end  of 'them.  But  he  was  not  of  the 
right  fiber  for  the  work  that  was  laid  upon 
him;  he  was  not  what  the  English  would  call 
'thorough'  " ;  he  temporized  and  listened  to 
his  wily  associate.  "Civil  disturbances  went 
on  for  eleven  years,"  continues  Hawthorne, 
"  'in  the  course  of  which,'  as  Professor  Fiske 
remarks,  'all  the  principal  actors  were  swept 
off  the  stage  as  in  some  cheap  blood-and- 
thunder  tragedy.  It  is  not  worth  while  to 
recount  the  petty  incidents  of  the  struggle — 
how  Almagro  was  at  one  moment  ready  to 
submit  to  arbitration  and  the  next  refused 

80 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

to  abide  by  the  decision;  how  Hernando  was 
set  at  liberty  and  Gonzalo  escaped;  how  Al- 
magro's  able  lieutenant,  Rodrigo  de  Orgonez, 
won  a  victory  over  Pizarro's  men  at  Abancay 
but  was  totally  defeated  by  Hernando  Pi- 
zarro  at  Las  Salinas  and  perished  on  the  field; 
how  at  last  Hernando  had  Almagro  tried  for 
sedition  and  summarily  executed.  On  which 
side  was  the  more  violence  and  treachery  it 
would  be  hard  to  say.  Indeed,  as  Sir  Arthur 
Helps  observes,  "in  this  melancholy  struggle 
it  is  difficult  to  find  anybody  whom  the  reader 
can  sympathize  much  with." 

Then,  once  more  Francisco  Pizarro  entered 
Cuzco  in  triumph,  this  time  wearing  an 
ermine  robe  that  had  been  presented  to  him 
by  Hernando  Cortes,  and  again  he  devoted 
himself  to  organizing  his  government  and 
extending  the  Spanish  dominion  over  the 
distant  provinces.  The  number  of  his  com- 
patriots had  increased  to  eight  thousand. 
Gonzalo  was  appointed  Governor  of  Quito, 
from  whence  he  strayed  to  make  a  disastrous 
journey  down  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Andes 
in  search  of  the  mythical  Eldorado,  which  he 
did  not  find,  but  which  resulted  in  the  dis- 
covery of  and  voyage  down  the  Amazon,  from 

81 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

the  mountains  to  the  sea,  by  Francisco  de 
Orellana,  his  second  in  command.  Hernando 
went  to  Bolivia  to  search  for  the  mines  from 
which  the  Incas  were  supposed  to  have  gotten 
their  wealth,  a  labor  that  was  rewarded  by  the 
discovery  of  Potosi,  which  has  yielded  more 
than  two  billions  of  ounces  of  silver — and 
silver  and  gold  were  of  equal  value  in  Europe 
in  those  days.  Pedro  de  Valdivia  undertook 
the  conquest  of  Chile  and  Alonso  de  Al- 
varado,  one  of  the  most  generous  and  hu- 
mane of  the  Conquistadores,  that  of  the 
mountains  of  northern  Peru.  The  Adelan- 
tado  himself  traveled  over  most  of  the  empire, 
founding  cities  at  strategic  points  in  the  more 
populous  and  fertile  valleys,  among  them 
Arequipa,  and  here  in  Bolivia  as  in  the 
country  about  Cuzco  he  divided  the  most  de- 
sirable of  the  lands  into  repartimientos  and 
apportioned  them  among  his  favorites. 

In  the  meanwhile  Almagro's  adherents, 
helpless  and  impoverished,  were  burning  with 
envy  of  their  more  fortunate  comrades,  who 
were,  by  favor  of  the  successful  rival,  rapidly 
enriching  themselves  with  Indian  tribute  and 
gold  and  silver  taken  from  the  mines.  At 
last,  unable  to  stand  it,  they  sent  the  news 

82 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

of  their  leader's  illegal  execution  to  Spain, 
with  a  demand  for  justice  against  the  Pi- 
zarros.  The  rest  of  the  story  is  told  by  Daw- 
son  as  follows: 

"The  Spanish  government  was  not  unwilling  to 
secure  a  selfish  advantage  from  the  disputes  among 
the  original  conquerors  and  sent  out  Vaca  de  Castro 
to  investigate  and  report.  When  the  Royal  Com- 
missioner arrived  at  Panama  early  in  1541,  the  latest 
news  from  Peru  was  tranquilizing.  Pizarro  was  busily 
engaged  in  enlarging  and  beautifying  Lima,  in  reg- 
ulating the  revenue  and  the  administration,  in  dis- 
tributing 'encomiendas,'  and  in  restraining  the  rapac- 
ity of  his  Spaniards.  However,  Lima  was  full  of  the 
'men  of  Chile,'  as  Almagro's  adherents  were  called, 
all  bitter  enemies  of  the  Governor.  They  passed  him 
in  the  street  without  saluting,  and  their  attitude  was 
so  menacing  that  Pizarro  received  repeated  warnings 
and  was  urged  to  banish  them.  Absolutely  incapable 
of  personal  fear,  magnanimous  when  his  passions 
had  not  been  aroused,  he  only  replied :  'Poor  fellows. 
They  have  had  trouble  enough.  We  will  not  molest 
them.'  He  even  sent  for  Juan  de  la  Rada — the  guide, 
counselor,  and  guardian  of  the  young  half-breed  who 
was  Almagro's  heir — and  condescended  to  try  to 
argue  him  into  a  better  frame  of  mind,  saying,  at 
parting:  'Ask  me  frankly  what  you  desire;'  but  the 
iron  had  entered  too  deeply  into  Rada's  soul.  He 
had  already  organized  a  conspiracy  to  assassinate 
Pizarro. 

"At  noon,  on  Sunday,  the  26th  of  June,  1541, 
Pizarro  was  sitting  at  dinner  in  his  house  with  twenty 

83 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

gentlemen,  among  them  his  half-brother  Francisco 
Alcantara,  and  several  of  the  most  illustrious  knights 
who  had  taken  part  in  the  conquest.  The  great  door 
into  the  public  square  was  lying  wide  open.  The  con- 
spirators, to  the  number  of  a  score,  had  assembled 
in  a  house  opposite.  All  of  a  sudden  they  rushed 
into  the  square  fully  armed  and  carrying  their  swords 
naked  in  their  hands.  A  young  page  standing  in 
front  of  the  Governor's  house  saw  them  and  ran  back 
shouting :  'To  arms !  All  the  men  of  Chile  are  com- 
ing to  kill  the  Marquis,  our  lord.'  The  guests  rose 
in  alarm  from  the  table  and  all  but  half  a  dozen  fled 
to  the  windows  and  dropped  into  the  garden.  Pizarro 
threw  off  his  gown  and  snatched  up  a  sword,  while  the 
valiant  Francisco  Chaves  stepped  forward  through 
the  ante-room  to  dispute  the  passage  at  the  staircase. 
The  ferocious  crowd  of  murderers  rushed  up  and  laid 
him  dead  on  the  stairs.  Alcantara  checked  them  for 
a  few  moments  with  his  single  sword,  but  was  soon 
forced  back  into  the  dining-room  and  fell  pierced  with 
many  thrusts.  The  old  lion  shouted  from  the  inside: 
'What  shameful  thing  is  this !  Why  do  you  wish  to 
kill  me? '  and,  with  a  cloak  wrapped  round  one 
arm  and  his  sword  grasped  in  the  other  hand,  he 
rushed  forward  to  meet  his  assassins  and  strike  a 
blow  to  avenge  his  brother  before  he  himself  should 
fall.  Only  two  faithful  young  pages  remained  at  his 
side.  Though  over  seventy  years  of  age,  his  prac- 
ticed sword  laid  two  of  the  crowd  dead  before  he  was 
surrounded.  The  two  boys  were  butchered,  and,  in 
the  melee,  Pizarro  received  a  mortal  wound  in  his 
throat,  and,  falling  to  the  floor,  made  the  sign  of  the 
cross  on  the  boards"  (with  his  blood)  "and  kissed  it. 
One  of  the  ruffians  had  snatched  up  an  earthen  water 

84 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

jar  and  with  this  pounded  out  the  old  man's  brains 
as  he  lay  prostrate,  disdaining  to  ask  for  mercy. 

"Thus  perished  by  the  sword  this  great  man  of 
blood.  The  measure  he  had  meted  out  to  Atahualpa 
and  Almagro  was  measured  to  him  again.  He  who 
had  shamelessly  broken  his  oath  times  without  number 
to  gain  his  own  high  ends  was  slain  by  treacherous, 
cowardly  assault.  But  his  great  vices  should  not  blind 
us  to  his  greater  virtues.  Courageous,  indomitable, 
far-sighted,  patriotic,  large-minded,  public-spirited, 
possessing  a  God-given  instinct  to  see  straight 
into  the  center  of  a  problem  and  the  energy  to  strike 
at  the  psychological  moment,  he  was  equally  great 
as  an  explorer,  a  soldier,  a  general,  a  diplomatist, 
and  an  administrator.  Even  his  shocking  moral  de- 
linquencies lose  something  of  their  turpitude  when  we 
consider  the  greatness  of  his  aims  and  the  baseness 
of  his  origin.  .  .  .  But  that  his  real  nature  was 
magnanimous,  generous,  and  truthful  is  proven  by 
the  many  instances  in  which  he  forgave  his  enemies 
and  kept  his  word  to  his  serious  loss,  and  that  his 
ambition  was  not  too  sordid  is  shown  by  his  self- 
sacrificing  devotion  to  the  public  good  during  the 
later  years  of  his  life.  Formed  in  nature's  grandest 
mold,  circumstances  and  environment  had  much  de- 
formed his  character,  but  the  original  lineaments  are 
plain." 

Pizarro  thus  disposed  of,  young  Almagro 
assumed  the  governorship  and  transferred  his 
headquarters  to  Cuzco,  where  his  father's 
party  was  stronger  than  at  Lima,  and  the 
Royal  Commissioner,  appointed  Governor  by 

85 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

the  King,  sailed  from  Panama,  got  together 
an  army  with  the  help  of  Pizarro's  friends, 
and  proceeded  to  Guamanga,  to  which  point 
the  usurper  was  advancing  with  his  forces 
from  Cuzco.  The  battle  that  ensued  was 
more  hotly  contested  than  any  that  had  there- 
tofore been  fought.  Of  the  twelve  hundred 
Spaniards  engaged,  less  than  five  hundred 
escaped  death  or  wounds.  Almagro's  troops 
were  practically  annihilated.  Two  days  af- 
terward those  of  the  Adelantado's  murderers 
who  had  survived  were  executed  in  the  public 
square  and  young  Almagro  himself,  who  had 
succeeded  in  making  his  escape,  was  recap- 
tured and  put  to  death.  Then  for  the  time 
being  Vaca  de  Castro  administered  the  office 
without  further  opposition. 

Before  this,  the  great-hearted  Padre  Bar- 
tolome  de  las  Casas,  the  Indians'  indefati- 
gable champion  and  friend,  had  written  his 
famous  book  exposing  the  horrors  of  their 
treatment  and  had  so  successfully  appealed 
to  the  King  in  their  behalf  that  it  had  been 
decided  to  abolish  native  slavery  and  grad- 
ually do  away  with  the  system  of  reparti- 
mientos  and  encomiendas  (allotments  of  land 
and  Indians) ;  and,  since  manifestly  such  a 

86 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

course  would  result  in  trouble  with  the  Con- 
quisitadores,  it  seemed  best  to  appoint  a  vice- 
roy who  would  not  be  subject  to  their  in- 
fluence and  invest  him  with  absolute  power. 
This  dangerous  office  was  bestowed  upon 
Blasco  Nunez  de  Vela,  whose  integrity,  piety, 
and  rigid  obedience  to  the  King  had  already 
gained  for  him  high  positions.  Arriving  in 
Peru  early  in  1544,  he  promulgated  the  new 
laws  abolishing  personal  service  by  the  In- 
dians, providing  that  encomiendas  might  not 
be  sold  or  descend  by  inheritance,  and,  worst 
of  all,  that  those  granted  to  participants  in 
the  war  between  Pizarro  and  Almagro  should 
lapse.  To  set  the  example,  in  his  journey 
down  the  coast,  the  Viceroy  sternly  insisted 
that  no  Indian  be  compelled  to  carry  a  bur- 
den against  his  will. 

To  the  Spaniards  this  seemed  an  out- 
rageous violation  of  the  natural  order  of 
things.  The  whole  fabric  of  their  fortunes 
was  based  on  enforced  Indian  labor.  With- 
out it  how  could  they  work  their  mines  and 
estates  or  transport  their  goods?  In  the 
general  dismay,  armed  resistance  was  decided 
on,  and  Gonzalo  Pizarro  was  called  from 
his  estate  in  southern  Bolivia  and  induced 

87 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

to  take  the  lead.  He  seized  the  artillery  and 
stores  at  Cuzco  and  was  soon  at  the  head  of 
some  four  hundred  desperate  men,  well 
armed  and  provided.  "The  Viceroy  retreated 
north  beyond  Quito  to  Popayan,"  says 
Dawson — 

"But,  being  joined  by  more  recruits,  rashly  re- 
turned to  the  neighborhood  of  Quito  to  offer  battle. 
He  was  defeated  and  killed.  Pizarro  went  back  to 
Lima,  while  his  lieutenant,  Carbajal,  hunted  down  and 
put  to  death  every  loyalist  who  remained  under  arms 
in  southern  Peru.  Gonzalo's  administration  lasted 
three  years.  They  were  golden  ones  to  the  Spanish 
adventurers.  The  marvelous  silver  mines  of  Potosi 
and  the  gold  washings  of  southern  Ecuador  were  dis- 
covered. Encomiendas  were  lavishly  granted;  the 
Indians  were  sent  back  to  their  fields ;  the  mining 
industry  began  that  marvelous  development  which 
soon  made  Peru  the  treasure  box  of  the  world  and 
Potosi  the  synonym  for  limitless  wealth.  But  the 
dazzling  sunlight  of  prosperity  was  dimmed  by  the 
shadow  of  Pizarro's  scaffold  slowly  creeping  across 
the  Atlantic  and  down  the  coast.  His  chief  lieuten- 
ants, knowing  that  they  had  sinned  past  forgiveness, 
urged  him  to  declare  himself  King  of  Peru,  but  he 
was  at  once  too  proud  and  too  patriotic  to  fling  away 
his  right  to  die  a  loyal  Spaniard.  Philip,  the  leaden- 
eyed,  close-mouthed  despot,  was  regent  of  Spain.  Bit- 
terly chagrined  that  the  stream  of  Peruvian  gold  had 
ceased  to  flow  into  the  royal  treasury,  his  vindictive 
heart  had  no  mercy  for  the  gallant  soldier  whose 
sword  had  helped  win  the  riches  now  temporarily  di- 

88 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

verted.  He  selected  a  man  after  his  own  heart — Pedro 
de  la  Gasca,  an  ugly,  deformed  little  priest,  hypo- 
critically humble,  though  astute  and  untiring,  whose 
success  as  an  inquisitor  was  a  guarantee  that  he  would 
be  as  pitiless  and  cruel  as  even  Philip  could  wish." 

This  man,  says  Hawthorne,  was — 

"A  real  diplomatist,  with  a  tongue  capable  of  mak- 
ing the  worse  appear  the  better  reason  and  of  winning 
support  from  the  ranks  of  the  enemy.  He  was  en- 
dowed with  official  powers,  but  chiefly  with  brains 
and  with  the  tongue  aforesaid.  His  first  step  was 
to  repeal  such  parts  of  the  abolition  laws  as  were 
hardest  upon  the  colonists,  and  thereby  he  won  their 
favor.  Not  until  after  these  good  news  had  been 
promulgated  did  Gasca  venture  to  leave  Panama  for 
Peru.  The  captains  of  Pizarro's  fleet  had  been 
despatched  to  Panama  to  meet  and  watch  the  new 
emissary  and  either  stop  or  bribe  him,  as  might  seem 
most  expedient.  But  allowance  had  not  been  made  for 
that  tongue.  Gasca  wagged  it  with  such  good  effect 
that  they  thought  perhaps  they  were  not  Pizarro's 
captains  after  all ;  at  all  events  they  put  their  fleet  at 
his  disposal  and  to  Peru  he  came,  landing  at  Tumbez 
in  June,  1547.  .  .  .  Captain  Diego  de  Centeno, 
acting  for  Gasca,  captured  Cuzco,  but  was  defeated 
in  the  battle  of  Huarina.  Hereupon  Pizarro  pressed 
on,  nothing  doubting — and  indeed  one  can  hardly 
blame  him  for  his  confidence,  since  it  lay  not  in  human 
foresight  to  anticipate  the  magical  seductiveness  of 
this  Gasca's  conversation.  The  armies  met,  but  Gasca 
did  but  open  his  mouth  and  Pizarro's  soldiers  began 
deserting  by  troops.  The  thing  was  inexplicable;  it 

89 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

was  uncanny.  We  would  call  him  a  magnetic  man 
nowadays,  and  Pizarro's  men  were  the  iron  filings. 
Even  those  who  stood  by  him  could  not  be  induced 
to  fight.  By  great  efforts  fifteen  men  contrived  to 
get  themselves  slain,  and  then  Pizarro,  losing  pa- 
tience, got  on  his  horse,  rode  over  to  Gasca's  camp, 
and  gave  himself  up." 

With  his   execution,   Spain's  conquest  of 
Peru  was  complete. 


IX 

In  1525,  at  the  foot  of  the  great  outlying 
mass  of  mountains  on  the  peninsula  that  lies 
between  the  Gulfs  of  Maracaibo  and  Darien, 
and  not  far  from  where  the  Magdalena  River 
empties  into  the  Caribbean  Sea,  the  town  of 
Santa  Marta  had  been  founded — the  first 
Spanish  settlement  in  Colombia  beyond  the 
Isthmus.  It  was  nothing  more  than  a  slave 
station  for  a  time,  from  whence  kidnaping 
parties  made  raids  into  the  country  round 
about  and  captured  natives  to  sell  to  the  gold 
miners  in  Espanola.  Real  attempts  at  col- 
onization were  not  begun  until  Pedro  de 
Heredia  founded  Cartagena,  farther  west,  in 
1533;  but  it  was  from  these  points  that  the 

90 


I « 

K     O 
U     O 

If 

U     O 
I     Z 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

explorations  were  undertaken  that  led  to  the 
discovery  of  the  next  great  stores  of  gold  and 
also  to  fresh,  and  this  time  seemingly  trust- 
worthy, affirmations  of  the  truth  of  the  story 
told  by  the  Indians  of  the  Isthmus,  of  the 
king  the  Spaniards  called  El  Dorado  (the 
Gilded  Man),  in  whose  country  the  rivers 
were  said  to  run  over  sands  of  silver,  where 
the  palaces  were  of  gold,  with  doors  and  col- 
umns studded  with  precious  stones  and  the 
king  bathed  in  aromatic  essences  and  covered 
his  body  with  gold  dust. 

Heredia  had  found  that  the  hills  south  of 
Cartagena  contained  profitable  gold  washings 
and  had  learned  from  the  Indians  of  a  region 
called  Zenufana  back  in  the  mountains  of 
the  interior  where  the  deposits  were  more 
valuable  still,  and  this  story,  having  proven 
true,  had  brought  about  the  conquest  of  the 
rich  valley  of  the  Cauca  and  the  development 
of  mines  that  have  yielded  hundreds  of  mil- 
lions in  gold.  The  shares,  even  of  Heredia's 
men  in  the  first  outcroppings,  are  declared 
by  the  chroniclers  to  have  been  greater  than 
those  of  the  followers  of  Pizarro  in  the  ran- 
som of  the  Inca.  And,  at  about  the  same 
time,  Pizarro's  enterprising  lieutenant,  Se- 

91 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

bastian  de  Benalcazar,  the  conqueror  of  Quito, 
had  continued  north  and  fought  his  way 
through  the  warlike,  semi-civilized  tribes  that 
inhabited  the  high  plateaux  around  Pasto  to 
the  lower  country  now  known  as  Popayan, 
where  the  Cauca  gathers  its  headwaters,  and, 
in  rapid  succession,  had  overcome  the  tribes 
that  opposed  his  progress  until  he  had  met 
the  expedition  from  Cartagena,  after  which 
he  had  gone  back  to  Peru. 

His  purpose  was  to  return  and  undertake 
the  conquest  of  the  region  of  the  upper  Mag- 
dalena  and  the  rich  Indian  communities  on 
the  broad  table-land  on  top  of  the  eastern 
Cordillera;  but,  before  he  could  set  out,  an 
expedition  from  Santa  Marta,  under  the 
command  of  the  gallant  young  Gonzalo  Jim- 
inez  de  Quesada — ranked  by  many  as  the 
greatest  of  the  Conquistadores  after  Cortes 
and  Pizarro — had  forestalled  him.  Quesada 
too  had  heard  the  stories  of  El  Dorado  and 
had  been  directed  to  a  lake  called  Guatavita, 
two  miles  high  in  the  mountains,  that  was 
supposed  to  be  in  the  country  over  which  El 
Dorado  ruled,  and  also  the  dwelling  place  of 
a  powerful  goddess  to  whom  the  people  of- 
fered jewels  and  gold  by  throwing  them  in 

92 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

the  water.    "They  had  a  legend,"  says  Haw- 
thorne— 

"To  the  effect  that  the  Goddess  of  the  Lake  had 
been  the  wife  of  a  former  chief  who  had  thrown  her- 
self into  the'  lake  to  escape  a  whipping,  and,  like  the 
maidens  of  Greek  mythology,  had  been  made  one  of 
the  immortals.  Pilgrims  came  from  afar  to  add  their 
offerings  of  gold  and  emeralds  to  the  divinity.  At 
every  installation  of  a  chief  there  was  an  imposing 
ceremony.  First  marched  a  .squad  of  naked  men 
painted  with  red  ocher,  as  mourners,  then  men  adorned 
with  gold  and  emeralds,  with  feather  headdresses, 
then  warriors  in  jaguar  skins.  These  shouted  and 
made  an  uproar  on  horns,  pipes,  and  conch  shells. 
Black-robed  priests  accompanied  the  procession,  with 
white  crosses  on  their  breasts,  and  in  the  rear  came 
the  nobles,  bearing  the  new  chief  on  a  barrow  hung 
with  gold  disks.  He  was  naked,  his  body  rendered 
sticky  with  resinous  gums  and  then  smeared  over  with 
gold  dust.  Having  reached  the  shore  of  the  lake, 
he  got  on  a  barge  and  was  rowed  to  the  center,  where 
he  dived  into  the  water  and  washed  off  his  gold, 
while  the  assemblage  on  the  shore  shouted  with  joy 
and  flung  their  offerings  into  the  transparent  abode 
of  the  Goddess." 


This,  it  seems,  had  once  been  true,  but, 
although  the  Indians  of  the  lowlands  may 
not  have  known  it,  the  custom  had  ceased  to 
exist  long  before  the  coming  of  the  Span- 
iards. Many  of  the  bravest  were  lured  to 

93 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

their  death  in  the  vain  quest,  not  only  in  the 
Colombian  Andes  but  in  the  valleys  of  the 
Orinoco  and  Amazon,  and  even  south  along 
the  Paraguay  and  Parana,  before  the  dis- 
covery was  made  that  the  custom  was  a  thing 
of  the  past. 

In  the  belief  that  it  still  existed,  there- 
fore, Quesada  and  his  company  of  nearly 
eight  hundred  men  had  left  Santa  Marta 
sometime  in  1536,  and,  harassed  by  bands 
of  savages,  forced  their  way,  with  almost  in- 
conceivable difficulty,  through  the  wild  for- 
ests and  undergrowth,  along  the  foothills 
bordering  the  Magdalena  and  up  the  steep 
side  of  the  Cordillera  to  the  delightful  series 
of  plateaux  which  were  then,  as  they  are  yet, 
the  populous  heart  of  the  country  and  the 
principal  seat  of  her  wealth  and  culture.  In 
the  continual  fights  with  the  Indians  and  from 
starvation  and  fatigue,  three-fourths  of  the 
company  had  died,  but  here  the  survivors 
found  themselves  at  last  in  a  beautiful,  fertile 
region,  where  the  climate  is  perfect  and  all  the 
products  of  the  temperate  zone  grow  luxu- 
riantly, and  where  the  inhabitants,  the  Chib- 
chas,  had  reached  a  state  of  civilization  not 
much  inferior  to  that  of  the  Aztecs  of  Mexico 

94 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

and  the  Caras  of  Ecuador.  Quesada,  after 
having  subdued  them,  had  founded  Bogota 
near  the  site  of  the  Chibcha  capital,  on  the 
7th  of  August,  1538. 

Later  the  same  year,  to  his  dismay,  Benal- 
cazar,  who  had  come  down  the  Magdalena 
from  Pasto,  in  the  opposite  direction,  reached 
this  same  plateau,  and,  a  few  days  later,  to 
the  confusion  of  both,  another  expedition, 
under  the  command  of  Nicolaus  Federmann, 
which  had  started  from  Coro  in  Venezuela, 
crossed  the  mountains  south  of  Maracaibo, 
continued  in  that  direction  along  the  llanos 
(plains)  at  the  eastern  base  of  the  Cordillera 
and  ascended  at  that  point,  also  put  in  an  ap- 
pearance. Thus  these  three  adventurers,  be- 
lieving they  had  almost  reached  the  goal  for 
which  many  were  yet  to  search,  found  them- 
selves simultaneously  in  the  very  neighbor- 
hood of  the  former  domain  of  the  gilded 
chiefs,  but  each  confronted  with  the  prospect 
of  losing  all  that  he  had  toiled  so  hard  for 
unless  he  could  overcome  his  rivals. 

What  was  to  be  done?  Undoubtedly  Que- 
sada had  the  right  to  possession  by  virtue  of 
his  prior  discovery  and  conquest,  but  the  other 
two  made  claim  on  plausible  grounds,  and  he 

95 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

had  not  been  commissioned  by  the  King. 
With  his  depleted  force  he  could  not  hope 
to  defeat  their  forces  combined.  Besides,  as 
all  realized,  if  they  should  fight,  there  would 
probably  not  be  enough  of  the  men  left  to 
hold  the  country  against  the  natives,  who 
would  only  be  emboldened  by  such  a  dis- 
sension. So  when  it  was  found  that  Quesada 
had  already  gathered  in  all  the  spoils  in 
sight — which  consisted  of  several  thousand 
emeralds  and  gold  vases  and  ornaments  that 
made  a  pile  so  high  that  a  man  on  horseback 
could  be  concealed  behind  it — Benalcazar  and 
Federmann  allowed  themselves  to  be  per- 
suaded to  accept  shares  in  the  loot  and  sub- 
mit to  the  King's  arbitration  their  re- 
spective claims  to  the  country.  Soon 
afterward  the  three  captains  set  out  for 
Spain  in  the  same  ship,  leaving  Quesada's 
brother  in  command.  None  of  them  ever 
returned.  Federmann  and  Benalcazar  were 
censured  for  exceeding  the  authority  given 
them  by  their  superiors  and  undertaking  con- 
quests on  their  own  account,  and,  instead  of 
appointing  Quesada  Adelantado,  the  King 
sent  over  another  governor  with  considerable 
reinforcements,  after  which  the  process  of 

96 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

assimilation  and  settlement  went  on  about  as 
it  was  going  on  in  Peru. 


Very  different  was  the  experience  of  Pedro 
de  Valdivia  in  Chile.  Unlike  these  other  ad- 
venturers, when  he  set  out  it  was  not  in 
the  expectation  of  finding  any  great  store 
of  gold,  since  Almagro  had  reported  that 
the  inhabitants  were  poor,  but  with  the  in- 
tention of  conquering  the  country  and  con- 
verting it  into  a  province  of  Peru.  In  ac- 
complishing only  a  part  of  this  purpose,  he 
was  to  have  a  far  more  difficult  task,  had  he 
but  known  it,  and  many  more  Spanish  lives 
were  to  be  sacrificed,  than  in  all  the  other 
conquests  put  together.  It  had  already  been 
discovered  by  Almagro,  however,  that  as  far 
south  as  he  had  gone,  the  natives  were  sub- 
jects of  the  Inca  and  that  their  civilization 
and  system  of  irrigation  and  agriculture  had 
been  brought  to  almost  as  high  a  standard. 
He  had  advanced  down  the  great  central 
valley  as  far  as  the  river  Maule,  finding 
everywhere  a  population  as  dense,  probably, 
as  that  which  exists  to-day,  and  had  met  with 

97 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

little  resistance,  probably  because  of  the  pres- 
ence in  his  party  of  the  brother  of  the  Inca, 
until  he  reached  the  boundary  of  the  empire 
and  encountered  the  independent  tribes  be- 
yond, and  there  met  his  reverse. 

As  a  consequence,  misled  by  this  favorable 
experience  with  the  northern  tribes  and  his 
own  with  the  easily  conquered  natives  of  Peru, 
Valdivia  took  with  him,  besides  his  Indian 
auxiliaries,  only  about  two  hundred  Span- 
iards and  a  number  of  women  belonging  to 
their  families.  He  soon  found  that,  since 
they  had  learned  of  the  execution  of  Huascar 
and  Atahualpa  and  that  the  new  Inca,  Manco 
Capac,  was  little  more  than  a  mere  puppet 
of  Pizarro's,  the  disposition  even  of  these 
northern  tribes  had  changed;  that  they  now 
regarded  themselves  as  released  from  their 
vassalage.  He  found  also  that,  although  they 
all  spoke  the  same  language  and  appeared 
to  belong  to  the  same  race,  they  still  main- 
tained their  tribal  organizations,  each  with 
its  own  Cacique  and  entirely  distinct  from  the 
others;  that  the  Inca  socialistic  system  had 
not  been  adopted,  and  that  individually  they 
were  democratic,  resentful  of  encroachments 
on  their  liberty,  and  self-reliant.  Hardly  had 

98 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

he  entered  their  country  when  his  troubles 
began.  To  this  second  invasion,  these  people, 
who  had  only  looked  askance  at  Almagro, 
now  promptly  showed  their  hostility.  Their 
lack  of  efficient  military  organization  and 
concert  of  action  made  it  easy,  however,  to 
overcome  what  resistance  they  could  offer  on 
the  spur  of  the  moment,  and  Valdivia  suc- 
ceeded in  pushing  on  for  several  hundred 
miles  until  he  came  to  the  section  of  the 
valley  through  which  flows  the  river  Mapocho. 
There,  fascinated  doubtless  by  the  gor- 
geousness  of  the  environment,  he  selected  a 
site  at  the  river  side,  at  the  base  of  an  isolated 
hill  (called  Santa  Lucia),  in  the  midst  of  the 
broad  plain  that  lies  between  the  two  great 
mountain  ranges,  two  thousand  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  and  founded  the  city  of  San- 
tiago, which  has  ever  since  remained  the  capi- 
tal. Following  Pizarro's  example,  among  the 
first  buildings  he  caused  to  be  erected  were 
the  Cathedral  and  Bishop's  house,  and  after- 
ward, and  only  just  in  time  to  save  the  colony 
from  annihilation,  he  fortified  Santa  Lucia, 
for  the  town  itself  was  soon  attacked  by  an 
overwhelming  force  of  Indians  and  half  the 
houses  burned  to  the  ground  before  they 

99 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

could  be  driven  off  with  the  help  of  an  ex- 
ploring party  that  opportunely  returned. 
This  was  only  one  of  many  such  vicissitudes, 
in  the  course  of  which,  so  beset  were  the  in- 
vaders and  so  reduced  did  their  number  and 
the  health  of  the  survivors  become  by  priva- 
tions and  fighting,  that  all  but  Valdivia  were 
for  abandoning  the  conquest  and  making  a 
dash  for  Peru. 

Mutiny  was  only  prevented  by  the  dis- 
covery of  gold  in  the  mountains  near  by  and 
the  arrival  of  reinforcements  from  Lima. 
After  that  he  was  enabled  to  found  the  town 
of  Coquimbo  on  the  coast  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  north  of  the  capital,  and  visit 
Peru  to  arrange  for  the  sending  of  more 
colonists  and  supplies.  While  there  he  as- 
sisted in  the  suppression  of  Gonzalo  Pizarro's 
revolt,  and  had  no  difficulty  in  inducing  a 
large  body  of  adventurers  to  go  back  with 
him,  for  Lima  now  was  swarmed  with  men 
who  were  eager  enough  to  win  lands  and 
slaves  or  take  their  chance  of  making  their 
fortunes  in  the  mines.  "With  their  help," 
says  Dawson,  "the  conquest  and  settlement 
of  all  Chile  as  far  south  as  the  Maule  was 
effectually  completed.  The  land  was  appor- 

100 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

tioned  among  the  cavaliers,  each  becoming 
a  sort  of  feudal  baron,  and  in  effect  creating 
a  landed  aristocracy  which  has  continued  to 
rule  the  country  to  the  present  day." 

In  1544,  Valdivia  founded  Valparaiso,  the 
seaport  of  the  capital,  and  rebuilt  Coquimbo, 
which  had  been  taken  and  burned  by  the 
neighboring  Indians  during  his  absence  in 
Peru.  He  then  devoted  several  years  to 
making  good  his  conquest  and  firmly  esr 
tablishing  the  colony,  and  in  1550  turned  his 
attention  to  the  country  south  of  the  Maule. 
Between  the  Maule  and  the  Bio-bio  were  the 
Promaucians  and  their  kindred  tribes,  and 
south  of  the  Bio-bio  was  a  confederacy  com- 
posed of  tribes,  also  related  by  blood  and 
language,  which  inhabited  the  forests  and 
mountains  and  lake  region  for  a  stretch  of 
two  hundred  miles.  Chief  among  these  were 
the  Araucanians — the  one  unconquered  ab- 
original race  in  the  new  world,  the  one 
aboriginal  race  in  America,  North  or  South, 
that  never  was  conquered  by  Europeans,  the 
one  race  that  checked  the  victorious  march 
of  the  Spaniards  and  compelled  them,  after 
more  than  a  hundred  years  of  almost  incessant 
warfare,  to  acknowledge  their  independence 

101 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

and  accept  the  Bio-bio  as  the  southern  bound- 
ary of  the  Spanish  possessions — not  warfare 
of  the  usual  desultory,  treacherous  Indian 
sort,  but  warfare  abounding  in  formal  cam- 
paigns and  sieges  and  pitched  battles,  in 
which  large  armies  were  engaged,  in  numbers 
often  evenly  matched. 

Inferiorly  armed  with  clubs,  spears,  and 
bows  and  arrows,  their  bodies  protected 
only  by  leather  cuirasses,  they  met  the  Span- 
iards and  their  native  auxiliaries  in  open 
field  and  charged  and  fought  them  hand  to 
hand,  and  defeated  them  too  in  many  a 
Homeric  fray  in  spite  of  the  steel  armor  and 
swords  of  the  Conquistadores  and  their  cav- 
alry, artillery,  and  firearms.  Inspired  by  ad- 
miration, a  chivalrous  Castilian,  the  soldier- 
poet  Alonso  de  Ercilla,  who  was  himself  in 
some  of  the  fights,  has  told  the  first  part  of  the 
story  in  his  historical  epic  in  thirty-seven  can- 
tos— the  story  of  how  their  lion-hearted  chief, 
Caupolican,  undismayed  by  defeat  in  the  first 
encounter,  persisted  until  he  had  destroyed 
an  army  of  the  invaders  and  driven  the  sur- 
vivors back  to  Santiago;  how,  when  wounded 
and  helpless,  he  was  captured  at  last  and 
underwent  torture  and  death  with  the  stoicism 

102 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

of  a  Mohawk;  how  his  wife,  indignant  at  his 
having  permitted  himself  to  be  taken  alive, 
ran  to  the  scaffold  and  threw  their  baby  at  his 
feet,  crying  out  that  she  would  no  longer  be 
the  mother  of  the  child  of  a  coward;  how  the 
brilliant  young  Lautero  took  three  Spanish 
strongholds,  invaded  the  country  north  of  the 
Bio-bio,  defeated  every  army  that  was  sent 
against  him,  and  laid  siege  to  Santiago  it- 
self; how  the  fiery  Tucapel,  while  besieging  a 
Spanish  fort,  scaled  the  wall  alone,  ran  the 
gantlet  of  the  garrison,  killed  four  mail-clad 
Spaniards  in  fighting  his  way  through,  and 
escaped  by  leaping  from  a  cliff;  how  an- 
other of  their  chiefs,  moved  to  pity  by  the 
straits  to  which  he  had  reduced  a  town  he 
was  besieging,  gallantly  challenged  the  Span- 
ish commander  to  single  combat,  on  condition 
that  if  he  should  defeat  him  the  town  must  be 
surrendered,  but  that  if  he  were  himself  de- 
feated the  siege  would  be  raised,  and  how, 
when  he  was  killed,  the  Indians  kept  the 
compact  and  withdrew — and  many  other  such 
stories,  some  of  them  rivaling  those  told  of 
the  Scottish  chiefs.* 


*  The   story  of  the  Araucanian  wars  is  told  in  full  in  Han- 
cock's "  History  of  Chile." 

103 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

These  Araucanians  "had  not  felt  the  influ- 
ence of  Peruvian  culture,"  says  Hawthorne; 
they  were  "still  in  their  healthy,  primitive  con- 
dition. In  person,"  he  goes  on — 

"Most  of  them  were  tall,  strong,  and  active,  with 
a  complexion  of  light,  reddish  brown,  sometimes  ap- 
proaching white.  They  had  a  copious  language, 
cooked  their  food,  made  bread  and  brewed  a  dozen 
kinds  of  spirituous  liquors.  Cities,  in  the  Peruvian 
sense,  they  had  none,  but  lived  in  patriarchal  hamlets, 
ruled  by  ulmens,  who  were  in  turn  subject  to  a  cacique 
of  the  tribe.  Each  farmer  was  master  of  his  own 
field ;  there  was  none  of  that  land  ownership  by  the 
state  that  obtained  in  Peru.  .  .  .  They  made  cloth 
garments,  which  their  women  adorned  with  embroid- 
ery and  dyed  with  vegetable  or  animal  extracts. 
They  manufactured  a  kind  of  soap,  and  their  uten- 
sils were  of  well-fashioned  pottery,  wood  and  marble. 
.  .  .  They  went  to  sea  in  canoes  and  fished  with 
fish  hooks.  They  knew  something  of  astronomy  and 
physics  and  had  some  rather  crude  notions  of  draw- 
ing and  carving.  They  called  themselves  Children 
of  the  Sun,  and  are  supposed  to  have  worshiped  the 
sun  and  moon ;  they  had  the  red  man's  vision  of 
happy  hunting  grounds  after  death,  and  believed  that 
those  who  died  fighting  in  battle  were  certain  of  a 
happy  immortality.  .  .  .  Cleanly  they  were  in  the 
extreme,  in  this  respect  offering  a  sharp  contrast 
to  their  invaders.  .  .  .  They  took  particular  pains 
to  keep  their  magnificent  teeth  white  and  clean,  and 
were  careful  to  remove  all  hairs  from  their  faces  and 
bodies.  The  women  were  dressed  in  woolen  garments 

104 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

of  a  green  color,  with  a  cloak  and  girdle;  the  men 
wore  shirts  and  breeches,  woolen  caps  and  footgear, 
and  over  all  capacious  woolen  ponchos  (capes).  The 
military  system  was  efficiently  organized." 

Having  learned  that  the  Araucanians  and 
Promaucians  were  hereditary  enemies,  Val- 
divia's  first  step  toward  the  conquest  of  the 
former's  country  was  to  form  an  alliance  with 
the  latter  and  to  establish  a  base  of  supplies 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Bio-bio,  where  he  founded 
the  city  of  Concepcion,  and,  during  the  year 
1551,  occupied  himself  in  fortifying  it  and 
making  preparations  for  the  invasion.  On 
the  arrival  of  reinforcements  he  had  sent  for, 
he  advanced  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  south, 
and,  encountering  but  little  opposition,  found- 
ed the  city  of  Imperial,  and  from  that 
point  pushed  on  a  hundred  miles  farther 
and  founded  the  city  to  which  he  gave  his 
name.  On  the  way  back  in  1553  he  built 
several  forts  and  at  Santiago  found  awaiting 
him  a  fresh  body  of  troops  and  horses.  Two 
hundred  of  the  men,  with  an  Indian  contin- 
gent, he  sent  across  the  Andes  to  begin  the 
conquest  of  what  is  now  the  Province  of 
Mendoza  in  Argentina;  and  then,  as  Haw- 
thorne relates  it — 

105 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

"The  Araucanians,  uniting  with  local  tribes,  made 
ready  to  clear  the  country  of  Spaniards.  An  army 
of  four  thousand  Indians  crossed  the  bloody  Bio-bio 
and  gave  battle  to  Valdivia,  but  that  stout  warrior 
succeeded,  after  a  desperate  conflict,  in  driving  them 
back  for  the  time.  In  the  following  year  he  carried 
the  war  into  the  enemy's  country.  .  .  .  There 
was  among  them  a  remarkable  old  Ulysses  named 
Colocolo,  who  added  to  ardent  patriotism  a  wonderful 
sagacity  in  both  war  and  intrigue.  He  traveled 
over  the  country  preaching  a  crusade  against  the  in- 
vaders. A  great  conference  was  held  among  the 
various  tribes,  and  a  chief  named  Caupolican  was,  at 
Colocolo's  suggestion,  chosen  commander  in  chief. 
This  hero  was  modest  and  valiant,  a  giant  in  stature, 
and  wise  in  counsel  as  he  was  brave.  His  first  ex- 
ploit was  the  capture  of  the  fort  of  Arauco,  which 
he  accomplished  by  an  unexpected  attack,  compelling 
the  garrison,  after  severe  fighting,  to  evacuate  and 
retire  to  the  fort  at  Puren.  The  garrison  at  Tucapel 
fort  was  in  like  manner  driven  to  Puren,  from  which 
place  word  was  sent  to  Valdivia  of  their  peril. 

"He  started  for  the  seat  of  war  with  two  hundred 
men  and  five  thousand  Indians.  .  .  .  The  two  armies 
came  in  sight  of  each  other  on  the  3d  of  December, 
1553,  and  maneuvered  for  position.  The  right  wing 
of  the  Araucanians  was  led  by  Mariantu,  the  left 
by  Tucapel,  the  Murat  of  the  host.  At  the  opening 
of  the  battle  Mariantu  attacked  and  cut  to  pieces 
the  Spanish  left,  and  served  in  the  same  manner  a 
detachment  sent  to  their  support.  At  the  same  time 
Tucapel  swept  down  on  the  Spanish  right.  The  lat- 
ter's  artillery  wrought  terrible  havoc  among  the 
Indians  and  they  were  thrice  repulsed,  though  with- 

106 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

out  being  thrown  into  confusion.  At  the  critical 
moment  of  the  fight,  a  young  man  saved  the  day  for 
the  Araucanians.  His  name  was  Lautero.  He  had 
been  previously  captured  by  Valdivia,  baptized  and 
made  a  page,  but  he  seized  this  opportunity  to  escape 
from  the  enemies  of  his  country  and  join  his  friends. 
He  called  on  them  to  follow  him  in  a  final  charge. 
They  caught  the  contagion  of  his  valor,  and,  collecting 
themselves,  swept  the  Spaniards  and  their  allies  from 
the  field  with  awful  carnage. 

"Valdivia  himself  was  captured.  He  begged  hard 
for  his  life,  even  promising,  if  he  were  spared,  to  quit 
Chile  with  all  his  followers.  Nor  did  he  scruple  to 
entreat  Lautero  to  intercede  for  him.  This  the  mag- 
nanimous former  page  did,  but  in  vain.  The  grim 
old  ulmens  knew  too  well  the  worth  of  Spanish  prom- 
ises, and,  disregarding  Valdivia's  screams  for  mercy, 
one  of  them  crushed  his  skull  with  his  war  club.  And 
the  next  day  the  trees  that  grew  in  the  great  plain 
again  bore  Spanish  heads  as  fruit,  and  Lautero  was 
appointed  Caupolican's  second  in  command.  At  the 
council  which  was  forthwith  held,  it  was  resolved,  in 
accordance  with  the  advice  of  old  Colocolo,  to  make 
a  general  attack  upon  all  the  Spanish  strongholds. 
Angol  and  Puren  were  promptly  abandoned  by  the 
invaders,  who  congregated  in  Valdivia  and  Imperial. 
Lautero  fortified  himself  on  the  precipitous  mountain 
of  Mariguenu,  in  order  to  prevent  possible  Spanish 
incursions  southward.  Of  a  band  of  fourteen  Spanish 
cavaliers  who  were  riding  from  Imperial  to  Tucapel, 
seven  were  slain  by  the  Araucanian  Lincoyan. 

"The  inhabitants  of  Concepcion  were  terrified  at 
these  catastrophes.  Villagran  was  chosen  Valdivia's 
successor.  He  made  careful  preparations  and  ad- 

107 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

vanced  with  a  strong  army  of  Spaniards  and  native 
allies  toward  Mariguenu.  In  a  narrow  defile  Lautero 
fell  upon  him.  The  Spaniards  tried  to  scale  the 
mountain  but  were  checked  by  slings  and  arrows,  and 
a  body  of  the  Indians,  falling  furiously  upon  the 
Spanish  cannoneers,  captured  the  guns.  An  attack 
was  then  delivered  upon  the  Spanish  front  and  it 
gave  way,  Villagran  flying  headlong  with  the  rest 
and  barely  making  good  his  escape.  The  remnant 
of  the  Spanish  army  was  pursued  by  Lautero  to  the 
river  Bio-bio,  where  the  Araucanians  paused,  and  the 
fugitives  staggered  into  Concepcion.  There  Villagran 
stayed  only  long  enough  to  gather  together  what 
property  he  could,  and  then,  with  all  the  inhabitants, 
he  fled  to  Santiago.  When  Lautero  entered  Concep- 
cion the  next  day,  he  found  nothing  but  empty 
houses,  which  he  destroyed.  The  seven  cities  were 
having  a  hard  life  of  it. 

"An  attempt  some  time  afterward  to  retake  and  re- 
build Concepcion  was  prevented  by  the  Araucanians, 
who  met  and  defeated  the  Spaniards  in  open  plain 
and  again  drove  them  back  to  Santiago.  ...  In 
the  next  campaign  Lautero  went  against  Santiago, 
while  Caupolican  attempted  the  siege  of  Imperial 
and  Valdivia.  Lautero  laid  waste  the  country  of  the 
Promaucians  and  fortified  himself  on  the  Claro.  A 
Spanish  reconnoitering  party  was  surprised  and  cut 
to  pieces  and  Santiago  was  in  danger.  Villagran, 
being  ill,  gave  the  command  to  his  son  Pedro,  who 
was  led  into  an  ambuscade  by  Lautero  and  his  army 
slaughtered.  But  this  was  Lautero's  last  victory,  for 
a  few  days  later,  standing  on  his  battlements  to  watch 
the  approach  of  a  Spanish  party,  he  was  killed  by 
a  chance  shot,  and  though  in  the  battle  that  followed 

108 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

the  Araucanians  fought  valiantly,  they  were  finally 
overpowered.  The  death  of  Lautero  was  for  three 
days  celebrated  by  the  Spaniards ;  and  indeed  his  fall 
meant  much  to  them.  He  had  invariably  defeated 
them  in  battle  and  outgeneraled  them  in  maneuvers, 
and  at  the  age  of  only  nineteen  had  made  a  reputation 
as  a  warrior  such  as  any  veteran  might  envy." 


From  then  on  the  war  continued  with  vary- 
ing success,  the  Spaniards  stubbornly  per- 
sisting in  their  efforts  to  conquer  their  in- 
domitable opponents,  the  Araucanians  always 
resisting,  and,  when  beaten  for  a  time,  re- 
treating to  the  mountains,  only  to  recruit  and 
return  to  the  contest  with  renewed  vigor,  and 
this  even  when  their  enemies  had  grown  so 
numerous  that  they  could  put  thousands  of 
their  well  armed  and  trained  soldiers  into 
the  field  instead  of  hundreds.  Gradually,  in 
the  course  of  many  years,  the  Spaniards  se- 
cured more  and  more  of  a  foothold,  until 
the  great  leader  Paillamachu  took  command 
of  the  Indians  and  began  an  uninterrupted 
series  of  victories.  He  burned  Concepcion 
and  Chilian,  a  hundred  miles  to  the  north, 
ravaged  the  whole  country  as  far  up  as  the 
Maule,  carried  Valdivia  by  storm  and  cap- 
tured, besides  the  garrison  and  inhabitants, 

109 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

$2,000,000  of  booty  and  a  large  store  of  arms 
and  ammunition,  afterward  reduced  Imperial, 
Osorno,  Villarica,  Canete,  Angol,  Coya  and 
Arauco,  and,  by  the  time  of  his  death  in  1603, 
every  one  of  their  cities  and  forts  on  the 
mainland;  and,  at  last,  when  the  Spaniards, 
after  many  other  attempts,  had  failed  to  re- 
cover the  lost  ground  they  were  forced  to 
resort  to  a  treaty.  Says  Hawthorne: 

"Another  term  of  raids  and  reprisals  ensued,  with 
no  conclusive  results  to  either  party.  Spanish  gov- 
ernors and  Araucanian  chiefs  succeeded  one  another 
year  after  year;  the  operations  now  favored  one  side, 
now  another,  but  the  Spaniards  on  the  whole  lost 
more  than  did  the  Indians.  It  was  not  until  1640, 
about  a  hundred  years  since  the  outbreak  of  the  war, 
that  anything  approaching  a  settlement  was  made, 
and  the  initiative  came  from  the  Spaniards.  At  the 
village  of  Quillin  the  Spanish  Governor,  the  Marquis 
of  Baides,  met  the  Araucanian  chief  Lincopichion, 
both  being  attended  by  a  great  retinue.  The  treaty 
was  ratified  by  speeches  and  the  sacrifice  of  a  llama. 
The  Spaniards  and  Araucanians  were  mutually  to 
refrain  from  incursions  and  the  Araucanians  were 
not  to  permit  the  troops  of  foreign  powers  to  land 
on  their  coasts  or  to  furnish  supplies  to  the  enemies 
of  Spain.  This  clause  was  inserted  in  view  of  recent 
attempts  of  the  Dutch  to  effect  a  lodgment  in  Chile. 
This  compact  was  kept  by  the  Indians,  in  spite  of 
temptations  to  break  it,  for  ten  or  a  dozen  years, 
when  hostilities  broke  out  afresh  owing  to  bad  faith 

110 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

on  the  part  of  Spain.  The  Spanish  were  overwhelm- 
ingly defeated  in  1655  and  during  ten  years  the 
power  of  Spain  in  lower  Chile  was  broken.  In  1665 
the  Spaniards  were  glad  to  make  another  treaty  with 
the  Indians,  which  was  kept  for  half  a  century.  The 
invaders  from  the  first  had  gained  much  more  by 
their  treaties  than  by  their  arms." 

"Thenceforward,"  says  Dawson — 

"The  Bio-bio  remained  the  southern  boundary  of 
the  Spanish  possessions.  An  army  of  two  thousand 
men  and  a  line  of  forts  guarded  the  frontier;  and, 
though  hostilities  were  frequent,  for  centuries  no  real 
progress  was  made  toward  depriving  the  Araucanians 
of  their  independence.  In  the  progress  of  time  the 
slow  infiltration  of  Spanish  blood  and  Spanish  customs 
modified  their  characteristics,  but  it  was  not  until 
1882  that  they  became  real  subjects  of  the  Chilean 
government." 

It  may  be  that  the  Spaniards  ought  not 
to  be  blamed  for  these  efforts  to  complete 
their  conquest  of  Chile  and  the  appall- 
ing amount  of  bloodshed  and  distress  they 
caused.  After  all,  they  only  did  what  the 
Aztecs,  Caras,  and  Incas  had  already  done 
to  the  peoples  of  their  neighboring  countries, 
what  the  European  peoples  were  constantly 
doing  to  each  other,  what  England  soon  after- 
ward did  in  India,  and  what,  within  the  last 

111 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

century,  our  own  people  did  in  Mexico,  the 
French  in  Algiers,  and  the  English  in  South 
Africa.  It  may  be  true,  as  is  asserted  by 
their  apologists,  that  the  motive  that  actuated 
the  Spanish  in  their  conquests  was  not  alone 
greed  of  land  and  gold,  but  in  large  part 
to  Christianize  a  pagan  people  and  bring 
them  into  the  true  fold;  but  for  the  long, 
brave  fight  these  Araucanians  made,  for  their 
high  standard  of  patriotism,  for  their  ad- 
herence to  their  convictions,  both  religious  and 
political,  we  can  feel  only  admiration  and 
sympathy.  For  these  things,  as  Hawthorne 
puts  it,  "they  merit  the  thanks  of  all  friends 
of  manhood  and  liberty." 

The  northern  areas  of  Argentina  submitted 
more  quietly  to  the  conquerors.  In  1542, 
Diego  de  Rojas  led  the  first  expedition  from 
Peru  down  through  the  Humahuaca  Valley. 
Though  he  was  killed  in  a  fight  with  a  wild 
tribe  near  the  main  Cordillera,  his  followers 
continued  their  march.  Near  the  site  of  the 
present  city  of  Tucuman  they  passed  out 
from  the  mountain  defiles,  and,  leaving  the 
desert  to  their  right,  penetrated  through  Cor- 
doba to  the  Parana  River  country  beyond. 
Lured  by  the  reports  of  peaceful  and  wealthy 

112 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

native  communities  in  the  irrigated  valleys 
and  the  magnificent  pasture  lands  in  the  pam- 
pas stretching  away  to  the  east — now  the 
scene  of  Argentina's  enormous  stock-raising 
and  wheat  industries — other  adventurers  soon 
followed  from  Peru  and  Chile  and  were  met 
by  expeditions  from  the  Atlantic  coast, 
marching  west  in  quest  of  another  Peru.  No 
permanent  settlement  was  made  on  the  site 
of  the  present  city  of  Buenos  Aires  until 
1580.  The  two  parties  that  had  attempted 
it,  the  first  commanded  by  Juan  Diaz  de 
Solis,  the  other  by  Pedro  de  Mendoza,  had 
been  defeated  by  the  Indians  and  driven  off, 
but  Mendoza  had  penetrated  into  the  interior, 
and  his  lieutenant,  Domingo  Irala,  who  re- 
mained and  founded  a  colony,  became  the 
dominant  figure  of  the  new  agricultural  em- 
pire. 

XI 

The  system  adopted  by  Spain  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  her  vast  colonial  possessions  is 
set  forth  in  the  famous  code  known  as  the 
Compilation  of  Laws  of  the  Kingdoms  of  the 
Indies,  framed  in  the  reign  of  Philip  IV  and 
published  in  1680  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II. 

113 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

The  American  possessions  had  originally 
been  divided  into  two  great  political  entities 
by  the  Emperor  Charles  V  in  1542.  These 
were  known  as  New  Spain  and  New  Castile 
and  were  governed  only  by  Real  Audiencias, 
(royal  audiences,  or  tribunals  that  had  both 
legislative  and  judicial  functions).  Later 
they  were  created  Viceroyalties,  and  the 
name  New  Castile  was  changed  to  Peru. 
"We  order  and  decree,"  said  the  King  in 
Law  1,  Title  3,  Book  III  of  the  Compilation, 
"that  the  Kingdoms  of  Peru  and  New  Spain 
be  ruled  and  governed  by  Viceroys  who  shall 
represent  our  royal  person.  These  shall  ex- 
ercise superior  power,  do  and  administer 
justice  equally  to  all  our  subjects  and  vassals 
and  apply  themselves  to  all  that  will  promote 
the  tranquillity,  repose,  ennoblement  and  paci- 
fication of  these  provinces." 

At  that  time  the  Viceroyalty  of  New  Spain 
embraced  all  the  provinces  of  Central  Amer- 
ica and  the  islands  of  the  Caribbean,  and 
Mexico  and  (west  of  the  Mississippi)  pretty 
much  all  the  land  to  the  north,  and  in  the 
Viceroyalty  of  Peru  were  included  Panama 
and  all  the  land  in  South  America,  except, 
of  course,  Brazil.  These  viceroyalties  them- 

114 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

selves  were  subdivided  into  great  provincial 
districts,  each  administered  by  a  Real  Au- 
diencia.  These  audiencia  districts  were  in 
turn  divided  into  lesser  governmental  juris- 
dictions known  as  Gobernaciones  (provin- 
cial sub-districts),  Alcaldias  May  ores,  Alcal- 
dias  Ordinarias  and  Corregimientos  (muni- 
cipal districts  of  greater  and  lesser  extent), 
and,  in  harmony  with  this  political  ar- 
rangement, there  was  also  an  ecclesiastical 
division:  into  Archbishoprics,  coextensive 
with  the  audiencia  districts,  Bishoprics,  cor- 
responding with  the  gobernaciones  and  al- 
caldias  mayores;  and  Parishes  and  Curacies, 
corresponding  with  the  alcaldias  ordinarias 
and  corregimientos.  The  Viceroys  were  re- 
spectively Presidents  of  the  Audiencias  and 
Captains- General  of  the  military  forces  at 
Lima  and  the  City  of  Mexico,  the  viceregal 
capitals;  the  provincial  audiencia  districts 
were  presided  over  by  Gowned  Presidents 
(Ministros  Tog  ado)  and  were  under  the  mili- 
tary command  of  Captains-General,  both  of 
which  officers  were  subordinate  to  the  Vice- 
roys. 

Within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Viceroy  of 
Peru  were  seven  royal  audiencias:    Panama 

115 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

(created  in  1535),  Lima  (created  in  1542), 
Santa  Fe  de  Bogota,  now  Colombia  (created 
in  1549),  Charcas,  now  Bolivia  (created  in 
1559),  San  Francisco  de  Quito,  now  Ecuador 
(created  in  1563),  Chile  (created  in  1609) 
and  Buenos  Aires,  now  Argentina  (created 
in  1661).  In  the  eighteenth  century  two 
more  viceroyalties  were  created  from  dis- 
tricts withdrawn  from  the  Viceroyalty  of 
Peru:  New  Granada  and  Buenos  Aires. 
That  of  New  Granada,  established  in  1717, 
was  made  up  of  the  Audiencias  of  Santa  Fe 
de  Bogota,  Panama,  San  Francisco  de  Quito 
and  Venezuela;  that  of  Buenos  Aires,  estab- 
lished in  1778,  included  the  territory  now 
embraced  in  Argentina,  Uruguay,  Paraguay, 
Patagonia,  Bolivia  (Charcas)  and  the  south- 
ern part  of  Chile.  Afterward  the  Audiencias 
of  Venezuela  and  Chile  were  constituted  in- 
dependent Captaincies- General,  subordinate 
only  to  the  Council  of  the  Indies  in  Spain, 
and  the  Audiencia  of  Charcas  was  returned 
by  royal  decree  of  1810  to  the  Viceroyalty  of 
Peru.  From  these  colonial  divisions  logically 
sprang  the  South  American  republics  as  they 
exist  to-day — of  course,  again  excepting  Bra- 
zil, which,  after  she  had  secured  her  inde- 

116 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

pendence  in  1822,  retained  a  monarchial  form 
of  government  until  1889,  when  she  became 
a  republic  like  the  others. 

Under  this  Spanish  colonial  system,  there- 
fore, the  King  was  absolute  sovereign,  and 
governed,  not  through  his  ministers  of  the 
cabinet — for  the  various  provinces  were  re- 
garded as  appanages  of  the  Crown — but 
primarily  through  his  Council  of  the  Indies, 
to  which  his  officers  in  America  reported 
directly,  and  secondarily  through  these  offi- 
cers themselves — the  Viceroys  and  Captains- 
General,  and  their  subordinates.  In  addition 
to  these  executive  officers  and  the  royal  audi- 
ences, there  were  Cabildos  (municipal  coun- 
cils), which  had  jurisdiction  of  local  affairs  in 
their  respective  communities,  but  there  were 
no  elective  officers  or  tribunals,  or  legislative 
bodies  representing  the  people.  The  King 
regarded  the  provinces  as  his  personal  prop- 
erty and  their  occupants  as  instruments  for 
their  development  for  his  benefit  alone.  Inci- 
dentally, they  might  derive  for  themselves 
what  profit  out  of  it  they  could,  but  only  in 
ways  consistent  with  his  interests  and  policies. 

Consequently,  during  this  colonial  period, 
the  Spanish  Americans  had  no  opportunity  to 

117 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

develop  a  representative  and  self-sustaining 
body  politic,  which,  in  the  course  of  time, 
might  by  peaceful  means  have  altered  this 
theory  and  corrected  the  evils  of  such  a  sys- 
tem— as  was  the  case  in  Brazil,  where  the 
Portuguese  King  in  person  resided  in  the 
country  for  several  years  (during  the  period 
of  Napoleon's  Peninsula  invasion)  and  in 
that  way  became  familiar  with  local  conditions 
and  the  needs  of  his  people.  He,  on  his  re- 
turn to  Portugal,  opened  the  Brazilian  ports 
to  the  commerce  of  the  world  and  created 
Brazil  a  vassal  kingdom,  with  a  form  of 
government  almost  wholly  autonomous. 

In  contrast  with  this,  no  Spaniard  (and 
certainly  no  foreign  trader)  was  allowed  to 
freight  ships  for  the  colonies,  or  to  buy  a 
pound  of  goods  anywhere  else,  without  ob- 
taining special  permission  and  paying  well 
for  the  privilege.  Cadiz  was  the  only  port 
in  Europe  from  which  ships  were  permitted 
to  sail  for  America,  and  the  whole  trade  was 
farmed  out  to  a  ring  of  Cadiz  merchants. 
Every  port  in  Spanish  South  America  was 
closed  to  transatlantic  traffic  except  Nombre 
de  Dios  on  the  Caribbean  side  of  the  Isthmus 
of  Panama,  near  the  present  city  of  Colon. 

118 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

Not  a  merchant  ship  could  enter  Buenos  Aires, 
Valparaiso,  Callao  or  Guayaquil.  Imports 
from  Spain  must  first  go  to  the  Isthmus,  there 
be  disembarked  and  transported  over  the  An- 
dean passes  and  the  Bolivian  plateaux  on  the 
backs  of  llamas,  and  finally  be  carried  down 
over  the  Argentina  pampas  to  Buenos  Aires, 
or  along  the  arid  coast  to  the  Peruvian  and 
Chilean  settlements.  Under  such  conditions 
in  the  southern  provinces  European  manu- 
factures, agricultural  and  mining  implements, 
and  other  essentials  for  a  people's  advance- 
ment were  to  be  had  only  at  fabulous  prices. 
On  the  other  hand,  also,  the  system  made 
exports  impossible,  except  the  precious  metals 
mined  in  the  north,  and  drugs,  and  other 
easily  transportable  products.  Hides,  hair, 
wool,  agricultural  products  and  hard  woods 
would  not  stand  the  cost  of  such  long  and 
difficult  hauls.  The  Peninsula  authorities 
acted  upon  the  theory  that  America  should 
be  confined  to  producing  gold  and  silver. 
The  Plata  settlements,  especially,  and  all 
others  south  and  east  of  the  Peruvian-Bo- 
livian mining  region,  suffered  from  this  ruin- 
ous suppression.  Having  no  mines,  they  were 
considered  worthless,  so  far  as  the  royal 

119 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

treasury  was  concerned,  and  were  in  conse- 
quence ignored — until  they  came  in  conflict 
with  home  industries  by  the  cultivation  of 
olives  and  grapes,  and  then,  to  protect  the 
Peninsula  growers,  the  Argentines  were 
forced  to  cut  down  their  olive  trees  and  uproot 
their  vines.  The  inevitable  results  followed. 
Smuggling,  bribe-giving,  evasion  and  con- 
tempt for  all  law,  and  hostility  to  the  fiscal 
authorities  of  the  Peninsula  grew  up  when, 
in  their  stead,  the  colonists  could  have  been 
developed  into  a  bulwark  for  Spain,  which 
was  so  soon  to  totter  from  her  proud  position 
as  the  greatest  of  the  world  powers.  Where 
science  of  government  and  national  up-build- 
ing should  have  been  taught  and  fostered, 
revolution  became  the  only  political  refuge. 

In  1808,  when  Napoleon  forced  the  ab- 
dication of  Charles  IV,  held  him  and  his 
successor,  Ferdinand  VII,  prisoners  in 
France,  and  established  his  brother  Joseph 
on  the  throne,  came  the  colonists'  oppor- 
tunity. In  April,  1809,  a  Junta  (national 
assembly)  was  formed  in  Caracas;  in  July  of 
the  same  year  the  example  was  followed  in 
Peru,  and  in  August  at  Quito;  in  May  of 
the  next  year,  Santa  Fe  de  Bogota  and 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

Buenos  Aires  followed,  and  Santiago  elected 
the  Chilean  Junta  in  September.  The  col- 
onists expected  by  these  steps  to  release  the 
Indians  from  slavery  in  the  mines  in  the  north 
and  west;  to  restore  and  develop  the  culti- 
vation of  grapes,  olives  and  tobacco,  and 
build  up  their  grazing  and  agricultural  in- 
dustry in  the  south  and  east;  also  to  open 
their  ports  to  commerce  with  Europe,  so  that 
they  might  buy  commodities  essential  to  their 
growth,  and  export  their  own  products  by 
way  of  exchange;  also  to  lighten  the  crushing 
imposts  and  internal  taxation,  to  abolish  the 
tithe  system,  and  reclaim  and  parcel  out  the 
vast  feudal  estates  which  had  gradually  been 
absorbed  by  the  Spanish  officials  in  the  course 
of  an  administration  which  could  only  be 
likened  to  that  of  the  rapacious  Roman  pro- 
consuls against  which  Cicero  inveighed  so 
impotently. 

But  the  ambitious  attempts  at  reform  met 
with  immediate  and  successful  opposition. 
The  country  was  full  of  Spanish  office-holders 
who  saw  in  them  their  dismissal  and  the 
death  blow  to  their  spoils  system.  In  the 
short  struggle  that  followed,  the  success  of 
the  royal  forces  was  almost  universal.  The 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

colonists  had  had  no  training  in  warfare,  nor 
had  they  yet  developed  as  a  people  the  unity 
of  purpose  and  sturdy  self-dependence  which 
was  eventually  to  bring  them  their  freedom. 
The  junta  governments  were  everywhere 
effectively  suppressed,  except  in  Bogota  and 
Buenos  Aires,  where  the  fires  of  revolution 
smouldered  during  the  succeeding  years  of 
Peninsula  chaos  that  preceded  Waterloo, 
and  the  colonists,  with  eyes  opened  at  last  to 
the  true  and  only  remedy  for  their  ills,  were 
formulating  their  great  resolve  to  separate 
themselves  entirely  from  the  mother  country; 
for,  while  their  measures  of  reform  had  been 
suppressed,  the  ideas  that  called  them  into  be- 
ing could  not  be  obliterated.  Furthermore 
their  unsuccessful  clash  with  the  viceroys  and 
lesser  officials  brought  even  more  glaringly 
before  their  eyes  the  extortions  and  brutal 
indifference  of  the  ruling  class.  The  attitude 
of  the  Peninsulares  toward  the  Creoles  and 
mestizos  of  the  colonies  had  always  been  con- 
temptuous, and  now  at  last  the  Creoles,  being 
for  the  most  part  of  unmixed  Spanish  de- 
scent (they  were  called  Creoles  only  because 
born  in  America)  found  their  resentment  of 
that  attitude  more  than  they  could  endure. 

122 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

The  series  of  military  successes  that  was 
destined  to  lead  to  the  desired  result  began 
with  the  fights  at  Tucuman  in  the  northern 
part  of  Argentina,  in  the  fall  of  1812,  and  at 
Salta,  a  little  farther  north,  in  February, 
1813.  By  these  battles  the  persistent  efforts 
of  the  royalist  forces  in  Peru  to  put  an  end 
to  the  junta  government  of  1810  in  the  Plata 
settlements,  were  checked  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Manuel  Belgrano.  But  on  the  first 
of  October  following,  the  Royalists,  in  viola- 
tion of  the  armistice  entered  into  after  Salta, 
almost  destroyed  Belgrano's  army  at  Vilca- 
pujio.  Disastrous  as  was  the  reverse  for  the 
Jime-being,  this  before  long  proved  a  dis- 
tinct service  to  the  colonists,  for  it  placed 
in  command  of  the  remnants  of  Belgrano's 
army  General  Jose  de  San  Martin,  one  of 
the  two  great  patriots  who  finally  brought 
the  war  to  a  successful  issue,  and  who  had 
then  just  returned  with  the  experience  and 
prestige  acquired  by  twenty  years'  service 
in  the  Peninsula  armies  against  Napoleon's 
famous  marshals.  The  other  of  these  great 
patriots  was  Simon  Bolivar. 

San  Martin  recognized  at  once  the  futility 
of  pursuing  the  campaign  and  attacking  the 

123 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

Royalists  in  the  mountainous  regions  of  Bo- 
livia, with  over  a  thousand  miles  of  difficult 
roads  between  his  army  and  base  of  sup- 
plies. He  conceived,  therefore,  the  idea  of 
compelling  Spain  to  defend  her  own  bases 
at  Lima  and  Callao,  and  to  this  end  elab- 
orated a  plan  for  the  invasion  of  Chile  and 
capture  of  Valparaiso,  and,  from  thence,  a 
combined  military  and  naval  attack  on  the 
capital  of  Peru,  the  seat  of  Spain's  conti- 
nental power.  With  this  purpose  in  view, 
he  repaired  to  the  almost  inaccessible  town 
of  Mendoza  on  the  Argentine  slope  of  the 
Andes,  on  about  the  same  parallel  with  the 
Chilean  capital,  Santiago,  and  remained  there 
two  years,  recruiting  and  training  a  strong 
force  and  accumulating  equipment. 

Shortly  after  he  had  established  his  camp 
of  instruction,  the  Chileans  under  General 
Bernardo  O'Higgins  had  extorted  from  the 
Royalist  General  at  Talca  a  truce  whereby 
the  protracted  struggle  to  maintain  the  junta 
government  in  Chile  was  for  the  moment  sus- 
pended. This  truce  of  Talca,  however,  was 
repudiated  by  the  Viceroy  at  Lima,  and 
General  Ossorio  was  soon  on  his  way  south 
with  another  Royalist  army,  against  which, 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

weakened  by  local  political  dissensions,  the 
Chilenos  were  unable  to  prevail,  and  were 
decisively  beaten  at  Rancagua  in  October, 
1814.  As  this  meant  a  complete  restoration 
of  Spanish  authority  in  Chile,  O'Higgins  and 
a  few  of  his  officers  made  their  escape  with 
the  wreck  of  their  army,  crossed  the  Andes 
and  placed  themselves  under  the  command  of 
San  Martin. 

In  January,  1817,  San  Martin's  army,  four 
thousand  strong,  was  ready  to  move  against 
the  unsuspecting  Spanish  in  Chile,  who  had 
been  led  by  a  stratagem  to  believe  that  he 
would  enter  the  country  through  one  of  the 
more  easily  accessible  of  the  Andean  passes 
to  the  south.  San  Martin,  however,  chose 
the  highest  and  most  terrible  of  them  all,  one 
four  thousand  feet  higher  than  St.  Bernard, 
and  which  lay  to  the  north  instead  of  south 
of  Aconcagua,  and  accomplished  a  feat  which, 
in  endurance  and  skill,  is  thought  by  the 
historians  to  have  surpassed  Napoleon's  fa- 
mous crossing  of  the  Alps.  Descending  the 
western  slope,  he  fell  upon  the  Spanish  out- 
post at  La  Guardia  on  the  7th  of  February, 
and  on  the  12th,  surprised  and  defeated  Os- 
sorio's  main  force  at  Chacabuco.  Two  days 

125 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

later  the  liberating  army  entered  Santiago. 
The  patriot  government  was  at  once  re- 
established and  the  directorship  conferred  on 
O'Higgins  after  San  Martin,  refusing  to  be 
diverted  from  his  plans  for  the  liberation  of 
the  entire  continent,  had  declined  the  honor. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  ensuing  year  the 
independence  of  Chile  was  proclaimed.  De 
facto  independence  was  not  achieved  until  the 
decisive  defeat  of  the  Royalists  on  the  plains 
of  Maypu,  on  the  5th  of  April,  1815,  and 
then,  with  Chile  cleared  of  Spanish  troops, 
and  the  port  of  Valparaiso  at  his  service  as  a 
base  of  supplies,  San  Martin  was  ready  to 
enter  upon  the  next  stage  of  his  work — the 
liberation  of  Peru. 

Another  period  devoted  to  recruiting,  or- 
ganizing, and  drilling  elapsed.  In  August, 
1820,  his  combined  military  and  naval  expe- 
dition set  out  from  Valparaiso  with  some 
4500  troops.  Thus  far  this  stronghold  of 
Spain  had  undergone  less  violent  revolution- 
ary disturbances  than  any  other  part  of  her 
American  possessions.  In  1820  it  was  fully 
under  the  control  of  Don  Joaquin  de  la 
Pezuela,  the  forty-fourth  successor  of  Pi- 
zarro.  But  it  was  three  years  now  since 

126 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

Pezuela  had  reported  to  the  Madrid  govern- 
ment that  he  stood  over  a  volcano  liable  to 
burst  into  action  at  any  moment,  and  had 
received  no  aid,  a  situation  San  Martin  un- 
derstood. In  this  expedition  he  was  ably 
seconded  by  Lord  Cochrane,  a  former  Bri,t- 
ish  naval  officer,  who  was  to  render  most 
valuable  service  in  the  naval  warfare  that 
was  at  once  begun  against  the  Viceroy.  Coch- 
rane's  first  success  was  the  capture  of  Val- 
divia,  Spain's  best  harbor  on  the  Pacific 
south  of  Valparaiso,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
his  rockets  were  filled  with  sand  instead  of 
powder,  the  Chilean  authorities  having  im- 
prudently employed  Spanish  prisoners  in  the 
manufacture  of  ammunition. 

Arrived  off  Callao,  the  seaport  of  Lima, 
the  liberators  entered  upon  operations  and 
negotiations  lasting  several  months,  during 
which  effective  missionary  work  in  the  cause 
of  independence  was  done  throughout  Peru 
by  San  Martin's  lieutenants.  At  last,  on  the 
6th  of  July,  1821,  the  Spanish  leaders, 
neglected  by  their  home  government,  and 
realizing  the  ineffectiveness  of  their  forces, 
evacuated  Lima,  which  was  at  once  occupied 
by  San  Martin.  He  did  not  come,  he  said, 

127 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

as  a  conqueror,  and  it  was  with  much  hesi- 
tation that  he  accepted  the  supreme  power 
offered  by  the  patriots;  he  styled  himself 
Protector  of  Peru,  promising  to  surrender 
the  government  to  the  people  as  soon  as  the 
Peruvian  congress  should  be  assembled  to 
take  over  the  burden,  and  retained  his  con- 
trol of  the  embryo  republic  for  a  year,  not- 
withstanding the  hostility  that  was  engen- 
dered by  misconception  of  the  high  purposes 
embodied  in  the  title  he  assumed.  The  wis- 
dom of  his  retention  in  power  at  such  a  crit- 
ical period  is  hardly  to  be  contested. 

This  was  the  decisive  campaign  of  the 
war  of  independence  on  the  continent.  The 
future  of  Buenos  Aires  and  Chile,  of  New 
Granada  and  Venezuela,  and  of  all  the  Span- 
ish settlements  depended  on  the  battles  that 
were  now  to  be  fought  in  the  mountains  of 
Peru,  where  the  Royalist  forces  had  concen- 
trated, for  this  was  the  very  heart  of  the 
Spanish  stronghold.  San  Martin  was  not  to 
fight  these  final  battles,  but  to  him  is  due  the 
credit  of  conceiving  the  plan  of  action,  of  exe- 
cuting it  almost  to  the  end,  and  of  showing,  by 
his  retirement  in  favor  of  a  more  convincingly 
popular  fellow-patriot  of  the  north,  a  mod-, 

128 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

esty,  soundness  of  judgment,  and  generosity 
almost  unparalleled  among  statesmen — for 
in  the  meantime  the  northern  movement, 
under  the  direction  of  Simon  Bolivar,  was 
approaching  Peru.  It  arrived  at  the  coast 
town  of  Guayaquil  in  the  spring  of  1822. 
San  Martin  immediately  repaired  to  that  port 
for  a  conference,  leaving  his  administration  in 
the  hands  of  the  Marquis  of  Torre  Tagle, 
a  member  of  the  old  nobility  who  had  turned 
revolutionist,  and  Bernardo  Monteagudo. 

The  meeting  of  the  two  Liberators  marked 
the  close  of  San  Martin's  military  career. 
He  saw  clearly  that  there  could  be  no  room 
for  himself  and  a  brilliant,  ambitious,  mag- 
netic leader  like  Bolivar  in  the  same  sphere 
of  action,  that  it  was  necessary  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  common  cause  that  one  of  them 
should  retire.  He  was  great  and  patriotic 
enough  to  make  the  sacrifice.  Returning  to 
Lima,  he  resigned  the  supreme  authority  and 
retired  to  Europe.  There  was  no  place  for 
him  in  Buenos  Aires,  except  as  a  leader  in 
the  civil  wars  which  by  this  time  were  dis- 
tracting the  country,  and  this  role  he  dis- 
dained. In  1850  he  died  in  France  at  the 
age  of  seventy-two,  after  a  thirty  years' 

129 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

struggle  with  sickness  and  poverty,  but  at- 
tended always  by  his  devoted  daughter. 
After  his  death  his  body  was  brought  to 
Buenos  Aires  and  reverently  placed  in  a 
tomb,  one  of  the  handsomest  in  the  world, 
about  which  stand  three  marble  figures  rep- 
resenting Buenos  Aires,  Chile,  and  Peru. 

Bolivar's  career  had  begun  in  Venezuela, 
where  he  was  born.  After  Spain's  suppres- 
sion of  the  junta  established  in  Caracas  in 
1810,  Bolivar,  with  the  revolutionist  Miranda, 
had  landed  in  Venezuela  and  called  into  be- 
ing the  first  congress  of  the  people,  and  the 
independence  of  the  country  was  proclaimed. 
In  the  fighting  that  followed,  the  movement 
thus  started  met  a  speedy  end — literally  shat- 
tered by  an  awful  earthquake  that  occurred 
on  Holy  Thursday  of  1812,  which  the  Roy- 
alists claimed  was  a  stroke  of  Divine  ven- 
geance against  those  who  would  have  over- 
thrown the  anointed  of  the  Lord. 

Miranda  was  captured  and  ended  his  days 
in  a  Spanish  prison,  but  Bolivar  escaped  into 
New  Granada  and  soon  had  full  sway  in  the 
revolutionary  councils  of  the  northern  prov- 
inces. In  1813  he  founded  at  Bogota  an 
active  revolutionary  junta  and  a  military 

130 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

organization.  With  the  latter  he  struck  the 
Royalists  at  Cucuta,  just  within  the  eastern 
border  of  Colombia,  and  passed  over  the 
mountains  to  Caracas,  proclaiming  war  to 
the  death.  Here  his  role  of  Dictator  be- 
gan. His  career,  however,  was  punctuated 
by  many  disasters  before  the  decisive  battle 
of  Boyaca  placed  Bogota  permanently  in  his 
hands  and  gave  assurance  of  eventual  suc- 
cess. But  from  this  triumph  Bolivar  hurried 
to  the  revolutionary  congress  he  had  some  time 
before  called  at  Angostura  and  procured  the 
enactment  of  a  law  providing  for  the  union 
of  Venezuela  and  New  Granada,  to  form 
the  Republic  of  Colombia,  and  was  elected 
President;  and  by  the  end  of  the  year  1821 
all  of  this  territory,  except  Panama  and 
Puerto  Cabello,  near  La  Guayra,  had  been 
freed  from  the  control  of  Spain. 

The  famous  battle  of  Pichincha,  won  on 
the  24th  of  May,  1822,  by  Bolivar's  great 
lieutenant,  Antonio  Jose  de  Sucre,  gave 
Ecuador  also  to  the  northern  federation; 
later  it  was  formally  incorporated  into  the 
new  Colombian  Republic.  Still  for  two 
years  the  final  clash  between  the  Royalists 
and  the  patriots  was  deferred,  during  which 

131 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

time  the  confusion  of  sectional  interests  and 
negotiations  by  the  now  desperate  mother 
country  threatened  to  undo  the  great  work 
of  the  liberators.  But  once  more  Bolivar 
triumphed.  By  the  withdrawal  in  his  favor 
of  San  Martin,  harmony  was  restored;  with 
his  victory  at  Junin  on  the  6th  of  August, 
1824,  and  the  decisive  battle  on  the  plain  of 
Ayacucho,  midway  between  Lima  and  Cuzco, 
on  the  9th  of  December,  the  war  came  to  an 
end.  In  that  brilliantly  fought  battle  the 
patriot  army,  again  under  Sucre,  defeated  a 
largely  superior  force  commanded  by  the 
Viceroy  in  person  in  less  than  eighty  minutes. 
The  Viceroy  wounded  and  a  prisoner,  and 
his  men  having  deserted  by  hundreds,  his 
second  in  command  sued  for  terms,  and  that 
afternoon  fourteen  generals,  five  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  officers  of  other  grades,  and  three 
thousand  two  hundred  privates  became  pris- 
oners of  war. 

Following  this  victory,  Sucre  proceeded  to 
Charcas  and  convened  the  patriot  congress 
which  in  August,  1825,  proclaimed  the  Re- 
public of  Bolivia,  and  became  its  first  Presi- 
dent. Bolivar  was  then  at  the  head  of  affairs 
in  Peru.  He  soon,  however,  relinquished  his 

132 


STATUE    OF    BOLIVAR,    LIMA. 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

dictatorship  and  returned  to  Bogota  to  re- 
sume, for  a  brief  term,  his  functions  as 
President  of  the  federation  of  Colombia. 
From  that  time  on  he  sank  rapidly  from  his 
apogee  and,  beset  on  all  sides  by  the  enemies 
his  supposed  imperial  designs  had  made  for 
him,  died  on  his  estate  of  Santa  Marta  on  the 
17th  of  December,  1830,  at  the  early  age  of 
forty-seven.  Disheartened,  his  personal  for- 
tune gone,  he  had  abandoned  any  designs  of 
that  character  he  might  once  have  had  and 
only  a  few  days  before  the  end  wrote  to  the 
Colombians:  "My  last  wishes  are  for  the 
country's  happiness.  If  my  death  can  con- 
tribute to  the  quieting  of  party  strife  and  to 
the  consolidation  of  the  union,  I  shall  go 
down  to  the  grave  in  peace."  To  him  also  in 
after  years  his  people  erected  monuments  in 
tardy  recognition  of  his  matchless  services. 

The  Portuguese  provinces  were  the  only 
ones  to  continue  the  monarchical  system. 
They  too,  however,  declared  themselves  inde- 
pendent, and  became  known  as  the  Empire 
of  Brazil,  until  1889,  when  the  present  re- 
public was  declared. 


133 


II 

BRAZIL 


THE  United  States  of  Brazil,  next  to 
our  own  United  States,  form  the  larg- 
est of  the  American  republics.  Brazil 
has  an  area  fifteen  times  greater  than  Ger- 
many's, sixteen  times  as  great  as  that  of 
France,  250,000  square  miles  greater  than 
ours,  excluding  Alaska  and  our  island  pos- 
sessions. At  its  greatest  width,  the  country 
extends  inland  more  than  2000  miles  and  its 
coast  line  on  the  Atlantic  is  more  than  3700 
miles  long,  twice  the  distance  from  Portland, 
Maine,  to  Key  West;  yet  the  population,  al- 
though it  has  doubled  in  the  last  forty  years, 
is  not  quite  a  fourth  as  large  as  our  own. 
It  is  estimated  that  if  the  whole  country  were 
as  densely  populated  as  France,  the  inhabi- 
tants would  number  622,000,000,  or,  if  as 
densely  populated  as  Germany,  955,000,000. 


BRAZIL 

Some  time  it  may  be.  Except  in  the  regions 
near  the  large  cities,  only  a  small  part  is  even 
sparsely  settled  now. 

It  argues  well  for  the  industry  and  en- 
terprise of  what  inhabitants  there  are,  how- 
ever, that  Brazil's  international  commerce  is 
relatively  nearly  as  great  in  proportion  to  her 
population  as  ours.  Some  idea  of  the  re- 
markable progress  she  has  made  is  given  in 
the  following  extract  from  a  pamphlet  re- 
cently published  by  the  Commissao  de  Ex- 
pansdo  Economica,  entitled  "Do  you  Know 
the  Wealth  of  Brazil?" 

"In  the  colonial  days,  the  foreign  trade  of  Brazil 
was  done  exclusively  through  Lisbon,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  Portuguese  men-of-war.  .  .  .  The  colo- 
nial produce  was  distributed  among  the  principal 
Portuguese  commercial  centers  and  the  imports 
came  exclusively  from  Portugal  to  the  ports  of  Bahia, 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  Pernambuco,  Para,  and  Maranhao. 
Until  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  foreign 
trade  of  Brazil  was  continued  more  or  less  on  this 
basis,  but  the  exports  were  considerably  more  than 
the  imports.  By  decree  of  January  28,  1808,  the 
King  of  Portugal,  Don  Joao  VI  of  Braganza,  lately 
arrived  at  Bahia"  (when  he  fled  from  the  Peninsula 
as  a  result  of  Napoleon's  invasion),  "resolved  to 
open  all  the  ports  of  Brazil  to  the  commerce  of  for- 
eign nations,  until  then  closed  for  the  benefit  of  Por- 
tugal. The  first  consequence  of  this  decree  was  the 

135 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

establishment  of  commercial  relations  with  England. 
English  agencies  were  opened  at  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
Bahia,  and  Pernambuco  for  the  purpose  of  importing 
manufactured  articles  and  exporting  sugar,  alcohol, 
gold,  cotton,  hides,  coffee,  cocoa,  timber,  and  indigo. 
After  the  proclamation  of  independence  in  1822,  the 
trade  developed  enormously,  France,  the  United 
States  of  America,  Germany,  Holland,  and  Sweden 
following  the  example  of  England.  .  .  .  From 
1846  to  1875  the  imports  increased  110  per  cent, 
and  the  exports  175  per  cent.  From  1876  to  1905 
the  imports  increased  175  per  cent,  and  the  exports 
272  per  cent.  ...  In  1909  its  total  value  was 
£101,844,549  (over  $500,000,000)." 

In  1910  it  was  $545,581,275,  in  which  we 
participated  to  the  extent  of  $142,437,986, 
including  $58,808,467  worth  of  coffee  and 
$47,409,030  worth  of  rubber  that  were  ex- 
ported to  us.  For  the  principal  industry  is 
still,  as  it  has  always  been,  agriculture,  though 
in  the  mountainous  sections  there  are  vast 
regions  containing  gold  and  precious  stones 
and  minerals  of  incalculable  value,  millions 
of  square  miles  in  the  interior  still  covered 
with  virgin  forests;  and  yet  even  the  rela- 
tively small  sections  that  have  been  culti- 
vated produce  more  than  three-fourths  of 
all  the  coffee  consumed  in  the  world  and  more 
than  three-fifths  of  all  the  rubber,  not  to 

136 


BRAZIL 

mention  the  other  products.  But  within  the 
last  few  years  immigration  has  been  encour- 
aged and  many  conditions  that  were  prevent- 
ing development  have  been  improved.  Won- 
ders have  been  accomplished  in  making  the 
cities  as  healthful  as  any  in  the  world.  The 
railroads  have  been,  and  are  still  being, 
extended  tremendously  and  facilities  for  com- 
merce along  the  great  inland  waterways  con- 
tinually increased. 

The  first  of  the  important  seaports  of 
Brazil  that  are  accessible  by  steamer  from 
New  York  is  Belem,  the  capital  of  the  State 
of  Para.  It  ranks  only  as  the  fifth  in  size, 
but  to  the  tourist  it  is  of  surpassing  interest 
because  it  is  situated  on  the  Para  River,  the 
southern  or  commercial  mouth  of  the  Amazon, 
that  mightiest  and  most  majestic  of  all  the 
rivers  in  the  world. 

Imagine! — a  river  more  than  3400  miles 
in  length,  with  its  source  in  the  Peruvian 
Andes,  16,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea 
— a  river  which,  with  its  vast  tributaries, 
many  of  them  themselves  from  a  thousand  to 
two  thousand  miles  in  length,  drains  a  ter- 
ritory of  2,300,000  square  miles,  two-thirds 
as  large  as  our  United  States,  and  so  rich 

137 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

in  indigenous  resources,  and  so  fertile,  that 
many  years  ago,  when  it  was  wholly  a  wilder- 
ness, the  great  scientist  Von  Humboldt  said 
of  it  that  "it  is  here  that  one  day,  sooner  or 
later,  will  concentrate  the  civilization  of  the 
globe" — a  river  that  is  a  mile  and  a  half 
wide  at  Tabatinga,  the  last  Brazilian  port  to 
the  west,  and  gradually  broadens  on  its  way 
to  the  sea  until  it  attains  a  width  of  150 
miles  at  its  northern  mouth  alone,  and  dis- 
charges into  the  Atlantic  a  volume  of  water 
more  than  four  times  as  great  as  the  outpour 
of  the  Mississippi — a  river  that  is  navigable, 
that  is  now  actually  being  navigated  by 
ocean  liners,  for  2000  miles,  clear  across 
Brazil  to  Iquitos  in  the  frontier  of  Peru. 

Yet,  although  as  early  as  1541  Francisco 
de  Orellana,  one  of  Pizarro's  little  band  of 
conquerors,  who  had  crossed  the  Andes  in 
quest  of  the  fabulous  country  of  El  Dorado, 
and,  after  having  traversed  the  whole  course 
of  the  river  through  Brazil  with  a  few  com- 
panions in  a  canoe,  had  made  his  way  back 
to  Spain  and  told  amazing  stories  of  the 
wealth  of  the  region  he  had  discovered,  and 
although  a  century  later  the  astronomer  La 
Condamine,  and  still  later  Baron  von  Hum- 

138 


BRAZIL 

boldt,  Castelnau,  and  others  had  successively 
published  alluring  accounts  of  their  explo- 
rations in  the  same  region,  it  was  not  until 
1867  that  the  river  was  opened  to  free  navi- 
gation. 

It  is  gratifying  to  reflect  that,  probably 
more  than  to  any  other  outside  influence,  it 
was  due  to  the  publication  of  the  report  of  an 
expedition  undertaken  in  1851  by  William 
Lewis  Herndon,  a  lieutenant  in  the  United 
States  Navy,  and  to  the  explorations  of 
Louis  Agassiz,  a  Harvard  professor,  that 
the  interest  was  aroused  which  at  last  brought 
this  about.  Lieutenant  Herndon,  like  Orel- 
lana,  started  from  Lima,  and,  braving  the 
passes  of  the  Andes,  entered  the  Amazon 
from  one  of  its  western  affluents  and  made 
the  journey  in  a  canoe,  with  only  a  Peruvian 
guide  and  a  few  Indian  rowers,  all  the  way 
to  its  mouth.  Professor  Agassiz,  whose  ex- 
plorations were  begun  fifteen  years  later, 
started  from  Belem  and  traveled  in  a  steam- 
boat, such  as  it  was,  accompanied  by  his  wife 
and  a  corps  of  scientists,  and  was  given  every 
assistance  possible  by  the  late  Emperor  Dom 
Pedro,  who  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  expe- 
dition. But  even  then  in  Brazil,  the  Pro- 

139 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

fessor  says  in  his  book,  "so  little  was  known 
of  the  Amazon  that  we  could  obtain  only 
very  meager,  and  usually  rather  discourag- 
ing, information  concerning  our  projected 
journey.  In  Rio,  if  you  say  you  are  going  to 
ascend  their  great  river,  your  Brazilian 
friends  look  at  you  with  compassionate  won- 
der. You  are  threatened  with  sickness,  with 
intolerable  heat,  with  mosquitoes,  jacaraes 
(alligators),  and  wild  Indians." 

Lieutenant  Herndon,  however,  had  already 
made  known  to  the  scientific  world  that  the 
climate  is  healthful,  notwithstanding  the  mos- 
quitoes; that,  humid  and  hot  as  it  is  during 
certain  hours  of  the  day,  the  nights  are  al- 
ways cool,  and  that  "the  direct  rays  of  the 
sun  are  tempered  by  an  almost  constant  east 
wind,  laden  with  moisture  from  the  ocean, 
so  that  no  one  ever  suffers  from  the  heat; 
and,  when  he  got  back  to  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
Professor  Agassiz  assured  the  Brazilians  that 
this  was  so.  Arthur  Dias  indignantly  pro- 
tests (in  his  Brazil  of  To-day)  that  "it  is  not 
true,  as  they  say,  that  the  climate  of  this 
region  prevents  the  existence  and  the  ex- 
tending of  the  population."  "It  is  a  legend, 
a  fiction,"  he  adds.  Mozans,  who  made  a  simi- 

140 


BRAZIL 

lar  journey  to  Herndon's  very  recently,  also 
testifies  to  the  same  effect. 

Here  in  this  Amazon  country,  Lieutenant 
Herndon  had  reported,  "we  see  a  fecundity 
of  soil  and  a  rapidity  of  vegetation  that  is 
marvelous  and  to  which  even  Egypt,  the 
ancient  granary  of  Europe,  affords  no  par- 
allel. .  .  .  Here  trees,  evidently  young, 
shoot  up  to  such  a  height  that  no  fowling- 
piece  will  reach  the  game  seated  on  their 
topmost  branches.  This  is  the  country  of 
rice,  of  sarsaparilla,  of  cocoa,  of  tonka  beans, 
of  mandioca,  black  pepper,  arrowroot,  ginger, 
balsam,  tapioca,  gum  copal,  nutmeg,  animal 
and  vegetable  wax,  indigo  and  Brazil  nuts,  of 
India  rubber,  of  dyes  of  the  gayest  colors, 
drugs  of  rare  virtue,  variegated  cabinet  woods 
of  the  finest  grain  and  susceptible  of  the  high- 
est polish.  Here  dwell  the  wild  cow,  the  fish 
ox,  the  sloth,  the  anteater,  the  beautiful  black 
tiger,  the  mysterious  electric  eel,  the  boa  con- 
strictor, the  anaconda,  the  deadly  coral  snake, 
the  voracious  alligator,  monkeys  in  endless 
variety,  birds  of  the  most  brilliant  plumage, 
and  insects  of  the  strangest  form  and  gayest 
colors." 

More  than  forty  years  of  progress  and 
141 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

improvement  have  passed  since  Dom  Pedro 
decreed  that  the  river  should  be  open  to  inter- 
national trade,  yet  all  these  wonders  may 
still  be  seen  there — the  vast  expanses  of 
water,  the  shore  lines  varied  by  lofty  bluffs 
and  low  plains  of  sand,  rugged  rocks  and 
dense  masses  of  foliage,  the  river  surface 
dotted  by  islands,  large  and  small — the  mag- 
nificent forest  still  crowding  to  the  banks  and 
teeming  with  all  the  exuberant  life  and  bril- 
liant hues  of  the  tropics — giant  sumaumeras, 
their  crests  towering  high  above  all  other 
trees,  their  huge,  white-barked  trunks  and 
limbs  standing  out  in  striking  relief  from  the 
masses  of  green;  tall  cocoanut  palms,  tufted 
at  the  top  with  fan-shaped  leaves  cut  into 
ribbons  and  bedecked  with  creamy  blossoms; 
slender,  graceful  assai  palms,  tall  and  clean- 
stemmed  like  the  cocoanuts,  but  with  fluffy, 
feathery  crowns;  wine  palms  from  which  the 
flowers  hang  in  long,  crimson  tassels,  studded 
with  berries  of  bright  green;  jupati  palms 
with  plumelike  leaves  forty  to  fifty  feet  long 
that  start  near  the  base  of  the  trunk  and 
curve  upward  on  all  sides  in  the  form  of  a 
vase;  the  familiar  fan  palm,  and  a  legion  of 
others. 

142 


BRAZIL 

And  there  are  rubber  trees,  which  resemble 
in  this  region  our  northern  ash;  stately  cos- 
tanhas,  the  trees  on  which  the  Brazil  nuts 
grow,  and  cacaos,  that  look  like  our  cherry 
trees,  only  they  give  us  our  chocolate  and 
cocoa  beans  instead  and  have  blossoms  of  a 
saffron  tint;  mahoganies,  rosewoods  and  sat- 
inwoods  and  great  sheaves  of  whispering  bam- 
boo; myriads  of  ferns  and  exquisitely  tinted 
orchids,  acacias,  scarlet  passion  flowers,  be- 
gonias, yellow  and  blue — flowers  innumerable 
in  the  wildest  profusion.  Not  little  ones  like 
our  violets  hiding  modestly  among  the  mosses 
and  grass,  but  big  blossoms  growing  lux- 
uriantly on  bushes  and  on  the  parasite  vines 
that  twine  about  the  trunks  of  the  trees  and 
hang  in  festoons  from  their  branches,  until 
the  whole  river  border  seems  ablaze  with 
their  vivid  lights;  and  there  are  still  the 
monkeys  and  beautiful  butterflies  and  hum- 
ming birds,  and  the  parrots,  macaws,  herons, 
egrets,  toucans,,  and  countless  other  gor- 
geously feathered  birds,  and  the  Indian  vil- 
lages, too,  in  the  midst  of  their  orange  and 
banana  groves  or  huddled  near  the  beaches 
where  the  turtles  breed. 

Only  now  all  these  may  be  seen  from  the 
143 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

decks  of  ocean  liners,  or,  if  one  starts  from 
Belem  or  Iquitos,  from  river  steamers  as 
safe  and  comfortably  equipped  and  setting  as 
good  a  table  as  most  of  those  in  our  north- 
ern waters.  Now  the  alligators  and  snakes 
and  tigers  have  been  driven  far  from  the 
beaten  tracks — not  too  far,  though,  for  the 
sportsman  who  loves  the  excitement  of  hunt- 
ing big  game — now  the  negro  slaves  have 
been  freed  and  the  Indians  are  no  longer 
hostile;  now,  in  many  places,  lands  have  been 
drained  and  clearings  made  in  the  forests, 
and  waste  marshes  and  giant  trees  have  made 
way  for  pastures  and  thrifty-looking  planta- 
tions, where  grain,  coffee,  sugar,  tobacco 
and  cotton,  and  pineapples  and  many  other 
things  are  cultivated;  now  the  rubber  and 
cacao  and  nut  gatherers  penetrate  far  into 
the  woods;  now  small,  isolated  communities 
have  grown  to  be  large  ones,  that  send  their 
produce  directly  from  their  own  docks  to 
the  markets  of  the  world. 

There  is  Manaos,  for  instance,  the  capital 
of  the  State  of  Amazonas.  Manaos  is  sit- 
uated at  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Negro,  which 
empties  into  the  Amazon  a  thousand  miles 
from  the  coast.  When  Lieutenant  Herndon 

144 


BRAZIL 

was  there  in  1851,  it  was  a  wretched  little 
town,  containing  but  four  hundred  and  sev- 
enty houses,  most  of  them  one  story  in  height, 
and  had  a  population  of  about  four  thou- 
sand— whites,  Indians,  mixed  breeds,  and 
negro  slaves  all  combined.  To-day  it  is  a 
modern,  rapidly  growing  city,  with  a  popu- 
lation already  numbering  fifty  thousand, 
perhaps  more,  including  many  foreigners. 
There  is  an  imposing  stone  State  House,  a 
white  marble  Palace  of  Justice,  and  a  splen- 
did monument  commemorating  the  opening 
of  the  Amazon  to  international  trade.  It  has 
broad,  shaded,  well-paved  streets,  lined  with 
handsome  buildings;  it  has  electric  lights, 
trolley  lines,  a  telephone  system,  water  and 
harbor  works,  an  ice  plant,  banks,  hotels, 
newspapers,  up-to-date  shops,  warehouses 
and  public  markets,  a  good  library  and  ex- 
cellent educational  institutions,  and  is  rated 
among  the  greater  ports  of  South  America 
because  of  its  extensive  shipments  of  rubber 
and  other  products  of  the  country  round 
about. 

A  visit  to  the  beautiful  public  gardens, 
where  an  orchestra  plays  in  the  evenings,  and 
to  the  Amazonas  Theater  is  well  worth  while. 

145 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

It  is  said  to  have  cost  $2,000,000  in  gold, 
that  theater — which  is  not  at  all  surprising 
to  any  one  who  has  seen  it,  for  it  is  truly 
superb,  a  structure  of  stone  with  marble 
supporting  columns,  that  stands  on  a  great 
causeway  of  masonry  occupying  a  command- 
ing site  on  the  Avenida  Eduardo  Ribeiro,  the 
principal  thoroughfare  and  fashionable  prom- 
enade, and  has  a  lofty,  brightly  colored  dome 
that  can  be  seen  from  the  harbor,  and  a  mag- 
nificent foyer  adorned  with  paintings  by  a 
famous  Italian  artist. 

Obydos,  too,  perched  on  the  bluffs  beside 
an  old  fortress  near  the  mouth  of  the  Trom- 
betas,  and  Santarem,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
iTapajos,  about  midway  between  Manaos  and 
the  coast,  are  other  progressive  cities  that  of- 
fer opportunities  for  agreeable  breaks  in  the 
long  journey.  As  it  was  in  the  Tapajos  that 
gold  was  first  found  in  the  region,  Santarem 
is  one  of  the  oldest  if  now  one  of  the  most 
up-to-date  of  the  towns.  It  is  possessed,  be- 
sides, of  a  peculiar  interest  for  North  Amer- 
icans because  after  our  civil  war  it  became 
the  home  of  quite  a  number  of  our  "unrecon- 
structed" Confederates. 

But  Belem,  or  Para  as  it  is  more  generally 
146 


BRAZIL 

called  by  foreigners  (one  may  take  his 
choice,  since  the  full  corporate  name  is  Santa 
Maria  de  Nazareth  de  Belem  do  Grdo  Para), 
is  by  far  the  largest  and  most  interesting  of 
them  all,  for  not  only  has  the  wealth  that 
has  poured  into  it  in  recent  years  trans- 
formed it  into  a  big  city  of  about  two  hun- 
dred thousand  inhabitants,  boasting,  like 
Manaos,  all  the  modern  public  utilities  and 
conveniences,  but  it  is  old  and  rich  in  relics 
associated  with  its  romantic  history,  much 
care  has  been  taken  in  the  adding  of  the  new 
to  beautify  it,  its  climate  is  much  more  de- 
lightful than  the  others  (the  mean  annual 
temperature  is  only  82°  F.),  and  it  is  also 
charmingly  clean  and  picturesque.  "Who 
comes  to  Para,"  runs  a  local  proverb,  "is  glad 
to  stay;  who  drinks  assai  goes  never  away" 
— though  assai  need  have  no  real  terrors  for 
that  reason.  It  is  nothing  more  seductive  than 
a  most  refreshing  beverage  made  from  the 
fruit  of  the  assai  palm. 

Almost  at  the  very  threshold  of  the  city, 
on  the  approach  from  the  sea,  one  encoun- 
ters some  of  the  wonders  in  which  the  region 
abounds — first  the  "pororoca,"  which  is  the 
name  originally  given  by  the  Indians  to  the 

147 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

huge  waves  that  are  created  by  the  conflict 
of  the  descending  waters  of  the  river  with 
the  inrushing  current  of  the  Atlantic  and 
follow  each  other  in  series  of  three  or  four, 
with  thunderous  intonations.  For  nearly  an 
hour  in  the  progress  through  the  great  es- 
tuary the  conflict  can  be  observed.  Then  the 
river  seems  to  prevail;  its  surface  grows  more 
placid,  the  color  changes  from  the  dark  hue 
of  the  ocean  to  light  green,  and,  on  beyond, 
to  the  tawny  yellow  of  the  Amazon.  Yet  they 
say  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tide  is  perceptible 
as  far  up  as  Obydos,  700  miles  away,  and, 
when  it  ebbs,  that  the  tawny  yellow  can  be 
seen  many  miles  out  at  sea.  Then,  scattered 
about,  here,  there,  and  everywhere  on  the 
twenty-mile-wide  bosom  of  the  Para,  as 
though  in  the  titanic  struggle  some  larger 
body  had  been  broken  into  bits,  are  hundreds 
of  wooded  islands,  moist  and  radiant  in  the 
sunlight,  their  varied  greens  in  delightful 
contrast  with  the  silvery  sheen  on  the  waters 
and  the  bright  turquoise  of  the  sky. 

The  city,  seen  from  a  distance,  with  its 
background  of  forests  and  rows  of  white- 
walled,  red-roofed  houses,  separated  into 
clusters  by  the  parks  and  tree-lined  avenues 

148 


BRAZIL 

sloping  down  to  the  shores  of  its  own  spa- 
cious bay,  has  the  gay,  holiday  appearance  of 
a  summer  resort.  Only  a  closer  view  dispels 
the  illusion,  for  its  harbor  is  filled  with  ves- 
sels of  every  size  and  description,  from  the 
little  monatrias,  or  canoes,  of  the  Indians,  to 
the  great  liners  of  the  Brazilian  Lloyd.  Its 
compact  business  section  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  quay,  the  Custom  House  and  market  and 
the  warehouses  of  the  steamship  companies 
present  a  commercial  aspect  substantial  and 
busy  enough  to  command  the  respect  even 
of  a  Chicagoan  or  New  Yorker.  As  already 
stated,  more  than  three  fifths  of  the  rubber 
supply  of  the  world  comes  from  Brazil,  and 
two  of  these  three  fifths  pass  this  very  port, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  cacao,  nuts,  oils,  to- 
bacco, woods,  and  other  things  shipped  there, 
or  of  the  importations. 

One  of  the  features  of  a  stay  in  Belem,  by 
the  way — that  is,  for  any  one  interested  in 
seeing  how  the  first  crude  form  of  an  article 
so  familiar  in  its  finished  forms  is  produced, 
is  a  trip  to  one  of  the  near-by  rubber  estates. 
It  has  not  yet  been  necessary  in  this  section, 
if  anywhere  in  Brazil,  to  resort  to  cultivation 
to  any  great  extent,  and  so  the  huts  of  the 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

seringueiros  (gatherers)  are  located  right  in 
the  woods,  where  the  rubber  trees  grow 
promiscuously  among  the  others,  and  each 
seringueiro  is  allotted  as  many  as  he  can  at- 
tend to.  The  sap,  which  resembles  milk  in 
color  and  consistency,  is  collected  in  cups 
placed  under  incisions  in  the  bark,  then 
brought  into  camp  in  bucketfuls  and  reduced 
by  a  primitive  process  of  evaporation  to  the 
slabs  or  cakes  forming  the  raw  article  of 
commerce.  One  does  not  have  to  leave 
Belem  itself,  however,  to  see  rubber  trees  and 
most  of  the  other  species,  too,  for  there  the 
people  have  been  generous  enough  to  pre- 
serve within  the  city  limits  a  large  tract  of 
primeval  forest,  which  has  been  cleared  of 
underbrush  and  converted  into  a  park,  known 
as  the  Basque  Municipal.  Also  there  is  a 
wonderful  botanical  garden  and  a  museum 
where  the  rarest  specimens  of  the  vegetation, 
and  animals  and  the  birds  and  reptiles  of  the 
country  are  assembled. 

And  even  in  the  business  section  there  are 
charming  public  squares.  The  one  nearest 
the  quay,  named  for  the  Bishop  Frei  Caetano 
Brandao,  whose  statue  is  in  the  center,  is  par- 
ticularly interesting  because  facing  it  is  a 

150 


BRAZIL 

fine  old  seventeenth-century  cathedral  of  the 
Portuguese  type,  massive  and  grave,  an  old 
marine  arsenal  now  used  as  a  hospital,  and  an 
ancient  fortification,  called  the  Castello,  which 
has  been  maintained  because  of  its  historical 
associations.  Then  there  is  the  Praca  da  In- 
dependencia,  where  the  Governor's  Palace  is, 
and  a  quaint  old  blue-walled  City  Hall,  built 
in  colonial  times  for  a  Portuguese  minister, 
the  Marquis  de  Pombal,  who  dreamed  of  the 
permanent  transfer  of  the  seat  of  the  Lusi- 
tanian  empire  to  the  banks  of  the  Amazon. 
In  the  heart  of  the  city,  on  its  most  elevated 
ground,  is  the  celebrated  Largo  da  Polvora, 
now  commonly  called  the  Praca  da  Repub- 
lica,  after  a  superb  monument  it  contains — 
of  marble  surmounted  by  figures  in  bronze, 
symbolic  of  the  republic  proclaimed  when  the 
Emperor  Dom  Pedro  was  dethroned  in  the 
bloodless  revolution  of  1889.  It  is  from  this 
point  that  the  four  principal  avenues  extend 
through  the  city  in  the  cardinal  directions. 

"The  Largo  da  Polvora,"  Arthur  Dias 
pays  it  the  compliment  of  saying  (though 
this  may,  perhaps,  be  rather  too  enthusias- 
tic), "shames  our  Avenida  da  Liber dade  in 
Lisbon;  if  they  could  place  there  the 

151 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Arc  de  Triomphe,  it  would  rival  the  Champs- 
Elysees."  It  may  be  that  for  most  its  fas- 
cination lies  not  so  much  in  its  beauty  as 
in  its  other  attractions,  for  it  is  the  great  so- 
cial and  amusement  center  of  a  prosperous 
and  pleasure-loving  community,  the  thor- 
oughfare along  which  the  best  of  its  hotels 
and  clubs  and  the  fashionable  cafes  and  con- 
cert halls  are  located  and  many  of  its  finest 
residences.  It  adds  the  lively  mundane  touch 
that  is  needed  to  relieve  the  impressiveness 
of  a  region  where  all  nature  is  so  overpow- 
eringly  beautiful.  In  the  midst  of  the  gar- 
dens, which  are  separated  by  luxuriantly 
shaded  streets,  is  the  Theatro  da  Paz,  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  best  in  Latin  America, 
and  the  Apollo  Circus  and  Paz  Carrousel. 
Near  by  is  the  handsome  Paz  Hotel,  with  its 
popular  cafe. 

In  the  evenings,  when  the  cool  breeze  sets 
in  from  the  ocean,  the  whole  scene  becomes 
animated.  The  brilliantly  lighted  avenues 
and  driveways  in  the  park  are  thronged 
with  the  carriages  and  motor  cars  of  the 
"four  hundred,"  the  sidewalks  with  crowds 
of  pleasure  -  seekers,  cosmopolitan  and  well 
dressed.  Then  the  cafes  all  have  out  their 

152 


BRAZIL 

little  zinc  tables,  jammed  with  customers 
of  both  sexes  (these  cafes  are  not  mere 
drinking  places,  most  of  them,  but  a  sort  of 
peculiar  combination  of  cafe,  candy  store, 
and  ice-cream  saloon),  dozens  of  orchestras 
play,  the  places  of  amusement  are  in  full 
blast,  and  music  and  gayety  reign  supreme. 

ii 

Because  of  peculiar  economic  conditions, 
the  railroads  of  Brazil,  as  originally  planned, 
were  not  intended,  like  ours,  to  facilitate  com- 
merce among  the  States,  but  only  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  the  products  of  the  va- 
rious developed  sections  of  the  country  to 
the  nearest  shipping  points.  Thus  Recife, 
the  seaport  of  the  State  of  Pernambuco,  is 
the  focus  of  one  system,  Sao  Salvador  da 
Bahia  of  another,  Rio  de  Janeiro  of  a  third, 
Santos,  the  port  of  Sao  Paulo,  of  a  fourth, 
and  Porto  Alegre,  the  chief  port  of  Rio 
Grande  do  Sul,  of  a  fifth.  Not  long  ago, 
when  these  conditions  began  to  undergo  rad- 
ical changes,  the  government  realized  the  de- 
sirability of  establishing  connections  by 
means  of  lines  running  north  and  south.  The 

153 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Rio  de  Janeiran  system  was  extended  north 
to  the  growing  port  of  Victoria,  in  the  neigh- 
boring State  of  Espirito  Santo,  and  con- 
nected with  the  systems  of  Sao  Paulo  and 
Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  and  in  1910  pushed  still 
farther  south  -into  Uruguay,  so  that  by  the 
end  of  the  year  it  was  possible  to  travel  by 
rail  from  Victoria  to  Montevideo,  a  distance 
of  more  than  two  thousand  miles. 

The  lines  north  of  Victoria,  however,  have 
not  yet  been  connected  and  the  nearly  twenty- 
five-hundred-mile  journey  from  Belem  to 
Rio,  therefore,  must  still  be  made  by  sea. 
But,  long  though  the  trip  is,  it  is  very  far 
from  being  a  monotonous  one,  if  only  the 
tourist  has  the  time  to  make  it  on  a  coast- 
wise steamer  that  stops  at  the  principal  ports 
of  call.  Sao  Luiz  da  Maranhao,  "the  City 
of  Little  Palaces";  Fortaleza,  the  port  of 
Ceara,  regarded  as  one  of  the  loveliest  in 
Brazil;  Pernambuco,  with  its  canals  and  la- 
goons and  'bridges,  a  city  that  inspired  a 
famous  Brazilian  poet  to  exclaim:  "Hail, 
beautiful  land !  O  Pernambuco,  Venice  trans- 
ported to  America,  floating  on  the  seas!" 
and  terraced,  crescent-shaped  Sao  Salva- 
dor, enthroned  on  the  hills  beside  its  mag- 

154 


BRAZIL 

nificent  bay — all  these  are  so  interesting  that 
they  richly  repay  a  visit.  All  are  older  than 
the  oldest  English  settlement  in  the  north- 
ern continent,  yet,  unlike  Jamestown,  there  is 
not  one  of  them  that  has  not  kept  pace  with 
the  national  progress. 

The  huge  breast  of  land  on  which  these 
cities  are  located,  that  reaches  out  in  a  direct 
line  toward  the  western  extremity  of  Africa 
and  lies  in  the  track  of  all  ships  bound  by 
way  of  the  Atlantic  to  and  from  the  country 
south  of  the  equator,  is  the  great  sugar,  cot- 
ton, and  tobacco  region,  and  was  the  first  in 
Brazil  to  contain  a  large  European  popula- 
tion. The  French  coveted  and  poached  on 
it  and  were  the  first  to  settle  Sao  Luiz  in 
Maranhao;  the  Dutch  seized  it  in  1630,  while 
Holland  was  at  war  with  Spain  and  Portu- 
gal and  her  possessions  had  fallen  under 
Spanish  suzerainty,  and  held  it  for  twenty- 
five  years  in  spite  of  all  the  Portuguese  and 
Spanish  could  do,  only  to  be  driven  out  at 
last  by  the  persistence  and  courage  of  the 
colonists  themselves. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  anywhere  else  could 
be  found  such  a  mingling  of  the  classic, 
medieval,  and  modern  in  architecture,  such 

155 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

quaint  old  institutions  and  customs  of  living 
in  an  atmosphere  permeated  with  up-to-date 
business  methods,  such  strangely  attractive 
displays  of  primitive  ornaments  and  curios 
as  may  be  seen  in  their  shops  side  by  side 
with  importations  from  Paris.  In  few  other 
places  could  such  results  be  studied  as  have 
come  from  the  process  of  racial  assimilation 
that  has  been  going  on  for  centuries  in  the 
mestizo  classes — the  Indian  by  the  Cauca- 
sian, the  African  by  both;  for  in  Brazil,  as 
in  the  islands  of  the  Caribbean,  immense 
numbers  of  blacks  were  brought  over  in  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  after  the 
enslavement  of  the  Indians  had  been  forbid- 
den. Nor  could  more  cordial  courtesy  be 
met  with  anywhere  than  that  with  which  one 
is  here  treated  by  all,  as  a  rule,  from  the 
highly  cultured,  thoroughbred  Portuguese  to 
the  poorest  and  most  illiterate  mixed-breed 
or  negro  laborer — though  this  is  true  of  nearly 
every  place  in  South  America. 

Of  all  these  cities,  though,  Pernambuco  is 
perhaps  the  most  interesting.  After  Rio, 
Sao  Paulo,  and  Bahia,  it  is  the  largest  and 
most  important  in  the  country.  Its  canals 
and  lagoons  and  handsome  bridges,  which 

156 


BRAZIL 

give  it  an  attractiveness  distinct  from  the 
others,  are  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the 
city  is  divided  into  sections  by  the  channels 
of  the  river  at  the  mouth  of  which  it  lies,  and 
a  few  hundred  yards  out  from  the  shore  is 
a  long  reef,  running  parallel  with  it,  that 
forms  a  natural  breakwater,  which  encloses 
the  harbor  and  protects  it  from  the  heavy 
rollers  in  time  of  storm.  It  is  from  this  reef 
that  the  section  known  as  Recife,  the  old  city 
proper,  derives  its  name. 

Recife  is  the  commercial  and  shipping  sec- 
tion now.  There  is  not  much  to  commend  it 
to  the  sightseer  except  a  few  fine  old  churches 
and  the  Praca  do  Commercio,  a  place  of  gen- 
eral resort  facing  the  local  Wall  Street,  where 
almost  every  one  who  is  engaged  in  business 
down  town  is  to  be  seen  taking  a  breathing 
spell  at  some  hour  or  other  during  the  day. 
Near  by  is  a  large  hucksters'  market,  which, 
it  must  be  confessed,  serves  better  than  the 
hotel  menu  to  disclose  the  peculiarities  of  the 
fare  with  which  the  denizens  of  the  neighbor- 
hood regale  themselves.  And  good  fare  it 
is,  too,  and  wonderful  to  behold — to  a  north- 
erner unaccustomed  to  such  luxuriance. 

The  section  in  which  the  government  build- 
157 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

ings  and  custom  house  and  the  principal  re- 
tail stores,  theaters,  and  places  of  amusement 
are  to  be  found  is  the  one  called  Sao  An- 
tonio, on  a  large  island  a  little  to  the  south- 
east. This  part  of  the  town  is  much  better 
built.  Many  of  the  old  houses,  as  in  Recife, 
are  reminiscent,  some  of  the  early  Portu- 
guese, others  of  the  Dutch  occupation — tall, 
pointed-roof  structures,  painted  white  or  pale 
blue  or  pink — but  the  newer  ones,  and  the 
streets  generally,  are  more  sightly  and  char- 
acteristic of  the  indulgent,  easy-going,  artis- 
tic temperament  of  the  people.  The  fash- 
ionable residence  district  is  called  Boa  Vista 
and  lies  back  on  the  mainland,  where  the 
bishop  has  his  palace.  Most  of  the  houses 
here  are  the  charming  one-story  affairs,  sur- 
rounded by  beautiful  gardens,  so  suited  to 
life  in  the  tropics. 

Three  or  four  miles  to  the  north  is  a 
suburban  section  called  Olinda,  where  many 
of  the  old  families  still  have  their  homes. 
In  colonial  times,  as  Dawson  tells  us,  when 
this  part  of  the  country  was  supplying  Eu- 
rope with  nearly  all  of  the  sugar  it  used 
and  the  planters  were  rolling  in  wealth, 
this  "was  the  largest  town  in  Brazil  and 

158 


BRAZIL 

the  one  where  there  was  the  most  luxu- 
rious living  and  the  most  polite  society. 
Great  sums  were  spent  in  fetes,  religious 
processions,  fairs,  and  dinners.  The  simple 
Jesuit  Fathers  were  shocked  to  see  such  vel- 
vets and  silks,  such  luxurious  beds  of  crim- 
*  son  damask,  such  extravagance  in  the  trap- 
pings of  the  saddle  horses.  Carriages  were 
unknown  and,  instead,  litters  and  sedan 
chairs  were  used,  and  these  remained  in  com- 
mon use  until  very  recent  times."  Lots  of 
these  old  houses  and  customs  still  exist,  and 
there  are  many  new  features  of  the  town  that 
are  worth  seeing. 

Sao  Salvador  da  Bahia,  "where  the  wicked 
Brazilian  cigars  come  from,"  was  the  pro- 
vincial capital  once,  and  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment of  the  whole  Portuguese  empire  when 
the  King  was  forced  by  Napoleon's  aggres- 
sions to  take  refuge  in  Brazil.  Formerly,  too, 
it  was  the  headquarters  for  diamonds,  before 
the  mines  in  the  south  and  in  South  Africa 
were  developed.  Now  it  is  the  capital  of  the 
rich  Bay  State,  and  is  the  third  of  the  big 
cities  in  point  of  size  and  importance — 
though  here  the  percentage  of  negro  blood 
is  much  higher  than  anywhere  else  in  the 
country.  ,159 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Its  location  is  delightfully  picturesque,  the 
upper  section  built  on  bluffs  several  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  level  of  the  bay,  the 
lower  along  the  shore.  In  this  lower  sec- 
tion, behind  the  docks,  are  the  warehouses 
and  factories,  the  arsenal  and  a  great  light- 
house, and,  aside  from  defensive  works  of 
modern  type,  the  old  fortifications  which  the 
Dutch  had  made  the  most  formidable  in 
America  in  colonial  times;  and  on  the  up- 
per terraces  are  the  Governor's  palace  and 
public  buildings,  one  of  the  best  public 
libraries  in  the  country,  the  cathedral  and 
convents,  the  municipal  theater,  and  the  bet- 
ter class  of  residences  and  amusement  re- 
sorts. In  general,  the  streets  are  much  like 
those  of  Belem  and  Pernambuco:  paved  with 
cobblestones  and  narrow  in  the  shopping  and 
cafe  districts,  with  long  white  rows  of  two 
and  three  story  houses  built  closely  together, 
many  with  balconies  above  the  show  windows ; 
and  the  parks  are  as  beautiful  and  the  resi- 
dences out  along  the  wide,  palm-lined  drive- 
ways are  fully  as  sumptuous. 

But,  interesting  as  are  all  these  places, 
their  attractions  are  fairly  dimmed  by  Rio's, 
and  especially  by  her  gorgeous  bay.  From 

160 


the  Guianas  to  its  southernmost  boundaries, 
in  fact,  Brazil  is  one  grand  series  of  pris- 
matic forests,  majestic  rivers  and  cascades, 
immense  rolling  plains  and  mountains — a 
panorama  that  is  matchless  anywhere  in  the 
world — but,  if  I  were  asked  to  point  out 
some  one  feature  that  was  pre-eminent 
among  them  all,  I  should  not  hesitate  to  se- 
lect that  bay.  The  bay  of  Naples,  the  Golden 
Horn  of  Constantinople,  all  those  wonderful 
aspects  by  the  mention  of  which  writers  have 
sought  to  impress  those  who  have  not  seen 
the  Rio  bay  with  its  grandeur  and  beauty, 
can  but  suffer  by  the  comparison.  "Extrav- 
agant language  must  be  used  in  writing  of 
it,"  says  Burton  Holmes,  "for  there  all  is 
extravagance — extravagance  of  color,  extrav- 
agance of  form."  It  is  so  incomparably  sub- 
lime, says  the  Rev.  James  C.  Fletcher,  the 
author  of  one  of  the  most  noted  of  the  de- 
scriptions— though  no  pen  or  brush  could 
possibly  do  it  justice — that  "the  first  en- 
trance must  mark  an  era  in  the  life  of  any 
one.  I  have  seen  the  rude  and  ignorant  Rus- 
sian sailor,  the  immoral  and  unreflecting 
Australian  adventurer,  as  well  as  the  refined 
and  cultivated  European  gentleman,  stand 

161 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

silent  on  the  deck,  lost  in  admiration  of  the 
gigantic  avenue  of  mountains  and  palm-cov- 
ered isles,  which,  like  the  granite  pillars  of 
the  Temple  of  Luxor,  form  a  fitting  colon- 
nade to  the  portal  of  the  finest  bay  in  the 
world." 

Entering  the  outer  bay,  we  see  to  the  left 
the  huge,  fantastic  figure  of  Gavia  looming 
up  from  the  shore,  rock-capped  and  bald, 
and,  a  little  beyond,  the  more  symmetrical 
crests  of  the  Three  Brothers.  Just  distin- 
guishable, off  behind  where  the  city  lies,  the 
summit  of  Corcovado  (the  Hunchback)  ap- 
pears. On  the  right  are  mound-shaped 
islands  called  the  Father  and  Mother,  that 
protrude  from  the  water  like  tops  of  moun- 
tains partially  submerged,  and,  off  in  the 
distance,  the  pinnacles  of  the  Organ  group 
mount  higher  than  all.  In  the  center,  on  a 
point  jutting  out  from  the  mainland,  is  an 
isolated  peak  fifteen  hundred  feet  high, 
called  the  Sugar  Loaf,  that  stands  like  a  sen- 
tinel guarding  the  narrow  entrance  to  the 
harbor.  As  we  draw  nearer,  the  coloring  of 
the  mountain  sides  and  shores,  only  a  con- 
fusion of  vague  tints  before,  grows  more  and 
more  vivid  as  the  foliage  begins  to  take  form, 

162 


Copyright,  1911,  by   W.   D.   Boyce 


BOTAFOGO    BAY,     HARBOI 
Photograph  used  by  courtesy  of  Mr.  W. 


•^ 


RIO    DE    JANEIRO, 
yce  and  the  Pan  American   Union. 


BRAZIL 

and  we  see  that  on  the  hills  above  the  rocks 
at  the  extremities  of  the  peninsulas  that  ex- 
tend from  either  side  to  form  the  gateway, 
are  white-walled  forts.  These  are  known  as 
Sao  Joao  and  Santa  Cruz,  and,  passing 
through,  we  are  confronted  by  still  another 
called  Lage,  midway  between  but  a  little  be- 
yond. It  is  steel-clad  like  a  man  of  war,  this 
one,  and  frowns  down  from  an  island  of  big 
rocks,  dominating  the  passage.  Once  by 
this,  we  are  in  the  harbor  itself. 

Just  within  are  shapely  arms  of  the  bay, 
Botafogo  on  the  Rio  side  and  Jurujuba  on 
the  other,  that  sweep  around  in  wide,  grace- 
ful curves  to  two  other  and  much  larger 
peninsulas  opposite,  like  those  of  Sao  Joao 
and  Santa  Cruz;  and  on  one  of  them,  the 
one  to  the  left,  is  the  old  or  commercial  dis- 
trict of  the  national  capital,  on  the  other  the 
pretty  little  city  of  Nictheroy,  the  capital 
of  the  State  of  Rio  de  Janeiro — for  the  city 
of  Rio  is  the  national  capital  and  located 
in  a  separate  federal  district,  like  our  city 
of  Washington.  Above  these  larger  peninsu- 
las the  water  broadens  to  a  vast  expanse,  a 
sort  of  inland  sea.  Inclosing  it  like  a  wall, 
and  on  beyond  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach, 

163 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

stretch  the  serried  peaks  of  the  Coast  Range. 

Everywhere,  bathed  in  the  intense  golden 
sunlight,  are  the  same  gradations  of  green, 
the  same  riot  of  brilliantly  colored  flowers, 
that  we  saw  on  the  Amazon — only  here  the 
water  is  not  muddy  but  deep  blue,  and  the 
beaches  are  lined  with  almost  snow-white 
sand.  Then,  as  we  steam  slowly  across  to 
the  anchorage,  which  lies  over  between  the 
Villegagnon  and  Cobra  islands  near  the  quay, 
we  have  the  first  view  of  the  city,  dense  in  the 
center  where  it  covers  the  peninsula,  and 
stretching  along  the  shore  and  here  and  there 
back  between  the  foothills,  for  miles  and 
miles  to  the  north  and  south.  The  roofs  of 
the  houses  are  tiled  in  reds  and  browns;  the 
walls  are  cream  or  rose-tinted  or  else  dazzling 
white.  "It  looks  like  a  fragment  of  fairy- 
land," as  Curtis  expresses  it — "a  cluster  of 
alabaster  castles  decorated  with  vines." 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  give  warning  that  some 
of  the  writers  on  Brazil,  after  going  into 
raptures  over  the  scene  in  the  bay,  express 
themselves  very  differently  respecting  the 
experience  on  entering  the  city.  That  same 
Mr.  Curtis,  for  instance,  goes  on  to  say  that 
"the  streets  are  narrow,  damp,  dirty,  reeking 

164 


BRAZIL 

with  repulsive  odors  and  filled  with  vermin- 
covered  beggars  and  wolfish-looking  dogs." 
But  he  was  writing  of  experiences  encoun- 
tered many  years  ago,  before  the  reforms 
and  improvements  were  undertaken,  which, 
when  completed,  will  have  cost  some  sixty 
millions  of  dollars.  It  is  still  true,  no  doubt, 
that  in  the  commercial  district  several  of 
the  ugly  old  sections  remain,  where  there  are 
narrow,  tortuous  streets  and  dingy  ware- 
houses, ship-chandleries,  saloons  and  stores 
that  cater  to  the  stevedore  class  of  trade,  such 
as  there  are  in  all  great  shipping  centers  as 
old  and  as  busy  as  Rio,  and  of  course  there 
are  the  districts  in  which  the  lowest  classes 
foregather.  But  since  he  and  Dr.  Fletcher 
wrote  their  books,  the  old  passenger  landing 
place  called  the  Pharoux  quay  has  been  trans- 
formed into  a  handsome  square;  adorned  with 
gardens  and  a  big  bronze  fountain;  hills  have 
been  leveled  to  permit  extensions  and  relieve 
the  congestion ;  literally  thousands  of  marshy, 
mosquito-breeding  places  have  been  filled  in 
and  reclaimed;  a  fine  drainage  canal  has  been 
constructed,  an  adequate  sewerage  system 
installed,  and  a  system  of  masonry  docks  is 
nearing  completion  that  will  rival  the  cele- 

165 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

brated  docks  of  Santos  and  Buenos  Aires; 
some  of  the  streets  have  been  broadened  and 
more  have  been  repaved,  and  the  sanitary 
conditions  and  healthfulness  generally  have 
been  so  improved  that  yellow  fever  is  a  thing 
of  the  past. 

Besides  all  this,  many  magnificent  new  gov- 
ernment buildings  have  been  erected,  notably 
the  Congressional  Palace  on  Tiradentes 
Square.  The  estimated  cost  of  this  build- 
ing alone  was  $15,000,000  and  it  is  proudly 
claimed  to  be  one  of  the  finest  in  South 
America;  also  the  Palace  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  of  rose-tinted  stone  and  marble,  with 
bronze  ornamentations,  and  the  Post  Office 
and  Mint,  National  Printing  Office  and  Na- 
tional Library,  all  of  great  architectural 
beauty,  and  the  City  Hall  and  Municipal 
Theater.  This  last  is  an  ornate,  high-domed 
marble  and  stone  structure  of  Moorish  design 
that  cost  $5,000,000  to  build.  And,  to  facili- 
tate traffic,  a  superb  hundred-and-fifty-foot 
wide  avenue,  the  Avenida  Central,  has  been 
constructed  clear  across  the  business  section 
of  the  city  for  a  mile  or  more,  opening  a  vista 
from  bay  to  bay.  To  do  this  more  than  six 
hundred  houses  had  to  be  purchased  and  torn 

166 


BRAZIL 

down;  they  have  been  replaced  by  others  of 
a  pleasing  general  uniformity  and  elegance  of 
appearance,  of  which  any  city  in  Europe  or 
America  might  well  be  proud.  The  Jornal 
do  Commerdo  building,  for  example,  looks 
more  like  one  of  our  fashionable  metropolitan 
hotels  or  apartment  houses,  than  a  business 
establishment.  The  sidewalks  are  paved  with 
mosaics  and  kept  perfectly  clean. 

Beginning  at  the  southern  end  of  this  ave- 
nue and  following  the  contour  of  the  shore 
past  the  elegant  residence  districts  of  Gloria 
and  Flamengo,  they  have  constructed  an 
esplanade  a  mile  long,  called  the  Avenida 
Beira  Mar,  and,  farther  on,  around  the  ex- 
quisite inlet  of  Botafogo,  where  some  of  the 
handsomest  of  the  residences  are,  have  con- 
verted the  semicircular  beach  into  a  still 
lovelier  avenue,  adorned  with  alternate  rows 
of  trees  and  arc  lights  like  the  other,  and 
flower  beds  and  formal  lawns.  Unless  it  is 
the  more  comprehensive  one  from  the  top  of 
Corcovado,  there  is  no  more  enchanting  view 
than  that  of  this  whole  ensemble  from  the 
Morro  da  Viuva  at  the  northern  end  of  the 
semicircle,  especially  looking  straight  across 
at  the  hills  on  the  opposite  side,  where  the 

167 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

rose-tinted  buildings  of  the  Military  School 
nestle  in  the  green  depths  of  a  rocky  cleft, 
with  the  Sugar  Loaf  towering  behind. 

And  then,  up  near  the  business  section 
again,  there  is  the  Paseio  Publico,  with  its 
park  and  lakes  and  broad  waterside  terrace 
overlooking  the  whole  southern  part  of  the 
harbor,  and  the  naval  barracks  and  fortifi- 
cations on  historic  Villegagnon,  quite  close  at 
this  point.  It  was  here  that  the  adventurer 
for  whom  it  is  named  made  the  first  at- 
tempt at  colonizing  the  neighborhood:  with 
a  party  of  Huguenots  sent  over  by  Ad- 
miral Coligny  to  escape  religious  persecutions 
in  France  and  to  found  a  place  of  refuge  for 
those  of  the  Protestant  faith.  The  Paseio 
Publico  is  regarded  by  many  as  the  most 
charming  of  the  parks,  but  there  are  lots 
of  these  beautiful  spots.  One  of  them,  the 
Botanical  Garden,  which  is  larger  and  more 
complete  than  the  one  in  Belem,  is  known  the 
world  over  from  the  thousands  of  pictures 
that  have  been  published  of  its  magnificent 
avenue  of  royal  palms.  Few  visit  Rio  with- 
out going  there;  and  now  that  a  good  cog- 
wheel railroad  has  been  built  from  one  of  the 
trolley  lines  up  to  the  summit  of  Corcovado, 

168 


BRAZIL 

the  whole  mountain  side  has  become  a  wild- 
wood  park.  With  reference  to  the  view  from 
the  summit,  I  cannot  resist  quoting  from 
Arthur  Ruhl,  who  describes  it  so  delightfully. 
"The  Corcovado  is  a  rock  jutting  over 
the  trees,"  he  says,  "so  sheer  that  you  look 
down  on  Rio  and  the  blue  harbor  as  from  a 
balloon — down  two  thousand  feet  of  velvet 
green  descents  to  the  terra  cotta  roofs  and 
sun-washed  walls  and  the  wheel-spoke  streets 
like  lines  on  a  map.  Not  one  of  our  smoke 
hives,  but  a  city  of  villas  and  palms  and  show- 
ering vines  and  flowers,  meandering  about 
over  the  foothills,  immersed  in  the  blazing 
sun.  The  cool,  laughing  sea  envelops  it — 
blue,  and  bluer  yet  in  the  sun;  and,  all  about 
in  it,  islands — agate  in  turquoise — jut  out 
as  though  the  gods  had  tossed  a  handful  in 
the  water.  It  is,  as  I  heard  an  American 
say  of  the  backward  look  toward  Rio  as  the 
train  climbs  to  Petropolis,  as  though  one  had 
been  taken  up  into  the  mountains  to  see  the 
kingdoms  of  the  world  and  the  glory  of 
them."  Petropolis,  though,  is  not  simply 
another  viewpoint,  but  one  of  the  loveliest  of 
the  suburban  mountain  cities,  where  the  late 
Emperor  lived,  surrounded  by  the  ambassa- 

169 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

dors  and  ministers  of  the  foreign  countries 
and  the  nobility  and  aristocracy  of  the  old 
regime.  It  is  still  the  home  of  the  diplo- 
matic corps,  and  the  most  fashionable  of  the 
suburbs. 

Do  not  imagine  for  a  moment,  however, 
that  the  pleasures  of  a  visit  to  Rio  are  limited 
to  such  things.  Like  all  cities  of  its  respect- 
able age  and  size — for  it  has  almost,  if  not 
quite,  reached  the  million  mark  now — it  has 
its  antiquities  and  places  of  historical  interest, 
its  museums,  art  galleries,  libraries,  statues 
and  churches  (the  paintings  and  decorations 
in  the  beautiful  Candelaria  Church  are  the 
richest  in  South  America),  and  its  theaters 
and  amusement  resorts  of  every  description; 
and,  down  town  in  that  same  commercial  part 
that  Mr.  Curtis  scored  so  heavily,  is  the  noisy, 
vivacious  old  Rua  do  Ouvidor,  of  all  things 
Rio  de  Janeiran  the  one  that  possesses  the 
most  individuality,  the  place  where  everybody 
who  is  anybody  is  to  be  seen.  It  is  only  about 
twenty  feet  wide — just  think  of  it,  the 
"Broadway"  of  a  great  city  like  Rio! — so 
narrow  and  crowded  that  vehicles  are  not 
allowed  to  go  through  at  certain  hours  of 
the  day,  but  most  of  the  old  somber  Portu- 

170 


BRAZIL 

guese-style  buildings  have  been  replaced  by 
modern  ones,  and  what  it  lacks  in  width  is 
compensated  for  by  the  attractiveness  of  the 
stores  and  cafes. 

These  cafes,  principally  devoted  to  the 
service  of  the  demi  tasse,  are  everywhere  in 
Brazil,  but  here  particularly  they  are  the  ren- 
dezvous for  the  official,  military,  professional 
and  more  prosperous  commercial  classes,  who 
drop  in  at  all  hours  to  talk  things  over  to 
the  music  of  the  orchestra — everything  from 
business,  religion  and  politics  to  the  idlest  so- 
ciety gossip — only  they  sip  coffee,  for  the 
most  part,  instead  of  highballs  and  beer.  And 
such  coffee!  A  North  American  never  real- 
izes what  a  perfectly  delectable  flavor  .cof- 
fee really  is  capable  of,  how  deliciously  rich 
and  sirupy  it  is  when  brewed  by  those  who 
know  how,  until  he  has  drunk  it  in  the  Orient 
or  down  there  in  Brazil. 

There  was  a  time,  and  not  so  very  long  ago, 
when  these  crowds  along  the  Rua  do  Ouvidor 
were  all  of  one  sex.  The  ladies  of  the  upper 
classes — when  they  went  shopping  at  all,  in- 
stead of  simply  having  samples  sent  to  their 
houses  to  choose  from — remained  in  their 
carriages  while  the  shopkeepers  brought  out 

171 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

to  them  for  their  inspection  the  various  qual- 
ities of  such  articles  as  were  desired;  but  this 
old  world  idea  of  seclusion,  like  many  others 
at  the  capital,  has  given  way  to  more  ad- 
vanced ones  now.  Brazilian  metropolitan 
womanhood  is  beginning  to  awaken  and  fol- 
low the  general  trend  toward  emancipation. 
In  these  days  ladies  not  only  appear  on  the 
streets  and  go  from  shop  to  shop  on  foot, 
as  do  the  ladies  of  our  cities,  but  drop  in  at 
certain  unexceptionable  cafes  for  luncheon,  or 
perhaps  at  a  matinee  or  some  moving  picture 
show,  unattended  by  their  husbands  or  fathers 
or  brothers.  The  Avenida,  Saturday  after- 
noons when  the  weather  is  pleasant,  reminds 
one  of  a  Parisian  boulevard,  so  densely  is  it 
thronged  with  smartly  gotten  up  prome- 
naders  and  so  well  patronized  are  the  little 
sidewalk  tables  under  the  awnings  in  front 
of  the  cafes.  Needless  to  say,  on  these  oc- 
casions the  ladies  do  graciously  suffer  the  at- 
tendance of  their  admirers  or  the  male  mem- 
bers of  their  families. 

"  'Superb'  is  the  word  that  best  fits  the 
beautiful  Brazilian  woman,"  no  less  an  au- 
thority than  Burton  Holmes  enthusiastically 
declares.  "  'Striking'  is  the  word  that  best 

172 


BRAZIL 

describes  her  dress."  Then,  referring  to  their 
appearance  at  the  opera:  "The  belles  of  Rio 
seem  to  have  taken  the  styles  of  Paris  and 
given  to  them  a  strange,  exotic  something 
that  makes  the  toilettes  seen  at  the  Munici- 
pal Theater  far  more  striking  and  effective 
than  those  at  the  Paris  opera,"  he  goes  on. 
"Mere  man  cannot  say  in  what  the  difference 
lies,  but  the  fact  remains  that  while  the 
gowns  may  have  been  made,  or  at  least  de- 
signed, in  Paris,  they  are  not  Parisian;  they 
are  instead  pronouncedly  Brazilian.  The  men, 
too,  deserve  a  word  of  mention,  for  they  are 
very  well-dressed  men,  much  better  dressed 
than  the  men  of  Paris  or  of  Lisbon — all  of 
course  in  evening  dress,  all  looking  as  if  they 
were  accustomed  to  wearing  it.  The  women 
in  the  boxes  retain  their  hats.  The  men  might 
as  well  retain  theirs,  for  they  are  quite  in- 
visible behind  the  massed  millinery  of  their 
fair  companions." 

Rio,  of  course,  has  all  the  up-to-date  public 
utilities — electric  street-car  lines,  lights,  tele- 
phones, taxicabs  and  the  rest;  but,  as  Arthur 
Ruhl  so  aptly  puts  it,  "Before  the  things  seen 
and  heard  and  vaguely  felt,"  in  this  city  of 
such  strange,  peculiar  charm,  "the  endless 

173 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

procession  of  vague,  unrelated  things  that 
baffle  and  allure — semi-antique  humans  liv- 
ing languidly  in  the  midst  of  a  sun-drenched 
nature,  which,  by  its  very  luxuriance,  might 
seem  to  have  overpowered  them — Latin  sen- 
sibility tinged  with  African  superstition — 
negro  coachmen  in  top-boots,  such  as  Puss- 
in-Boots  might  have  worn — dusky,  velvet- 
eyed  donzellas — palms,  blazing  walls  and 
indigo  sea — one  loses  interest  in  railroads  and 
power  plants  and  the  things  we  do  better  at 
home.  Brazilians  must  interest  themselves 
in  such  things,  for  therein  lies  their  salvation. 
If  I  seem  to  neglect  them,  it  is  because  it 
seems  absurd  to  visit  a  conservatory  full  of 
orchids  and  spend  one's  time  seeing  how  the 
steam-pipes  are  put  in.  By  the  same  token," 
he  adds — 

"There  is  a  certain  mellowed  dignity  in  the  Bra- 
zilian scene — the  natural  inheritance  of  the  empire, 
and  doubtless,  also,  a  reaction  of  race  and  climate — 
lacking  in  the  more  energetic  Argentina.  It  was  only 
in  1889  that  good  Dom  Pedro — that  kindly,  cultured, 
old-school  gentleman — was  dethroned  and  shipped  off 
to  Portugal.  It  is  only  since  1887  that  the  negroes 
ceased  to  be  slaves.  Brazil's  foremost  statesman,  the 
big,  able  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  who,  as  he 
moved  amongst  his  slender  Caribbean  brethren  at  the 

174 


BRAZIL 

1906  conference,  looked  like  the  senior  partner  of 
some  old  firm  of  Wall  Street  bankers,  is  still  called 
'Baron'  Rio  Branco.  You  can  still  see  in  Petropolis 
the  house  of  the  Princess  Regent  and  her  husband, 
the  Conde  d'  Eu,  overgrown  somewhat  with  vege- 
tation and  buried  in  somber  shades.  Rio's  great 
public  library  was  started  by  King  Joao  VI  him- 
self when  the  Portuguese  court  was  transferred  to 
Brazil  in  1808. 

"There  is  still  a  suggestion  of  the  old  world  and 
grand  manner.  They  have  their  Academy  of  Forty 
Immortals ;  their  politicians  are  often  pleased  to  prac- 
tice the  politer  arts.  Senhor  Joahim  Nabuco,  who 
presided  at  the  conference,  has  written  his  'Pensees.' 
These  litterateurs  may  be,  as  Senhor  Bomfim 
suggests  in  (A  America  Latina,'  'inveterate  rheto- 
ricians whose  abundant  works  are  taken  as  a  proof 
of  genius.'  Yet  at  least  they  have  a  certain  way  with 
them.  Pompous,  grave,  they  go  through  the  solemn 
motions.  In  spite  of  the  vast  majority  who  neither 
read  nor  write,  Brazilians  of  the  upper  class  are  prob- 
ably more  'cultured,'  in  the  narrow  literary  sense  of 
the  word,  than  our  average  man  of  the  same  class  at 
home.  They  speak  and  write  French  as  a  matter  of 
course  in  addition  to  their  own  language,  and  most  of 
them  make  fair  headway  with  English.  They  enjoy 
and  encourage  music  and  painting  and  poetry. 
Opera  not  only  comes  to  Rio  each  winter  as  it  does  to 
Buenos  Aires,  but  they  have  their  National  Institute 
of  Music  and  their  native  composers,  one  of  whom 
especially,  the  late  Carlos  Gomez,  has  heard  his  operas 
successfully  produced  in  Europe.  They  have  their 
National  Academy  of  Fine  Arts  and  a  gallery  which, 
I  am  sure,  is  visited  and  appreciated  more  than  the 

175 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

really  excellent  one  tucked  away  upstairs  in  Buenos 
Aires'  Calle  Florida." 


Ill 

As  already  said,  from  Rio  one  may  go  to 
Sao  Paulo,  the  second  largest — and,  with  the 
exception  of  Rio,  the  most  important — city  in 
the  country,  by  railroad,  and  almost  as  com- 
fortably, too,  as  one  may  travel  from  New 
York  to  Chicago.  The  city  of  Sao  Paulo  is 
the  capital  of  the  State  of  that  name,  the 
great  land  of  coffee,  the  land  in  fact  that 
produces  more  than  half  of  all  the  coffee 
grown  in  Brazil,  and  Brazil  as  a  whole  pro- 
duces more  than  three-fourths  of  all  that  the 
world  consumes.  The  city  has  a  population 
of  about  350,000,  and  is  located  in  the  moun- 
tains, about  forty  miles  back  from  the  coast 
and  three  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  sea.  It  is  connected  by  railroad  with 
Santos,  its  seaport,  where  the  best  docks  in 
the  country  are  now.  These  two  cities, 
though  founded  in  early  colonial  times,  are 
not  quite  as  interestingly  characteristic  as  Rio 
and  the  others  that  have  been  mentioned,  for 
they  are  far  enough  south  to  be  in  the  tem- 
perate zone,  and  have,  therefore,  attracted  a 

176 


BRAZIL 

very  much  larger  foreign  element,  particu- 
larly German,  Italian,  Portuguese  and  Span- 
ish. There  are  not  so  many  negroes  and 
mixed  breeds  among  the  laboring  classes,  and 
their  institutions,  business  methods  and  social 
life  more  nearly  resemble  our  own;  and,  as 
a  consequence,  they  have  certainly  not  been 
behind  the  rest  of  Brazil  in  development.  As 
in  Rio,  enormous  sums  have  recently  been 
spent  for  sanitation,  public  buildings,  and  im- 
provements. 

Sao  Paulo  has  thus  been  transformed  into 
one  of  the  most  healthful  cities  in  the  world, 
and  one  of  the  handsomest.  Its  climate,  uni- 
formly mild  like  that  of  southern  Europe, 
has  never  left  anything  to  be  desired — except, 
perhaps,  snow  and  ice,  if  there  are  among  the 
residents  there  any  homesick  northerners  who 
prefer  the  sharper  seasonal  contrasts  to  which 
they  are  accustomed.  The  site  is  too  near  the 
tropics  and  the  mountains  are  not  high 
enough  for  freezing  cold,  yet  so  high  that 
the  air  has  a  bracing,  invigorating  quality. 
As  Senator  Root  declared  when  he  was  vis- 
iting the  country:  "There  is  something  in  the 
air  of  Sao  Paulo  that  makes  strong  and  vig- 
orous men."  Their  strength  and  vigor  are  not 

177 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

attributable,  however,  to  the  climate  alone.  It 
is  an  inheritance.  The  early  Paulistas  were 
of  the  sturdiest  type,  men  who  were  com- 
pelled to  maintain  themselves  and  extend  and 
defend  their  possessions  by  fighting  and  the 
hardest  kind  of  work — an  instance,  they  were, 
of  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  It  is  small 
wonder  that  their  descendants,  with  their 
rich  heritage  of  health  and  vitality  and  tra- 
ditions, and  their  enormously  productive 
lands,  should  be  distinguished  for  their  enter- 
prise as  well  as  for  their  wealth  and  social 
and  intellectual  culture.  In  political  and  edu- 
cational progress  they  have  always  been 
prominent. 

A  splendid  monument  to  their  patriotism 
and  enterprise  is  Ypiranga,  a  great  build- 
ing of  classic  design,  erected  on  the  site 
of  the  proclamation  of  independence  on  a 
hill  overlooking  the  city,  and  intended  both 
to  commemorate  the  event  and  to  be  used 
as  an  institution  of  learning.  Among  other 
interesting  things,  it  contains  a  remarkable 
museum.  They  have  a  polytechnic  school  in 
the  city  that  is  the  pride  of  the  whole  coun- 
try, and  the  graduates  of  which  are  in  de- 
mand everywhere  because  of  the  particularly 

178 


BRAZIL 

efficient  system  of  training;  an  institution 
known  as  the  Lyceum  of  Arts  and  Crafts, 
devoted  to  the  practical  instruction  of  the 
artisan  classes,  which  graduates  skilled  work- 
men by  the  hundreds  every  year;  and  an  ex- 
cellently equipped  normal  school  that  occupies 
a  whole  square,  facing  the  Praca  de  Repub- 
lica — these  in  addition  to  primary  institutions 
and  conventional  colleges  and  law  and  med- 
ical schools,  that  are  attended  by  students 
from  all  over  Brazil. 

There  is  even  a  well-patronized  non-sec- 
tarian North  American  institution,  known  as 
the  Mackenzie  College,  which  has  been  in 
existence  for  thirty-five  years  or  more,  and, 
of  all  surprising  things — and  this  is  only  one 
of  many  indications  of  the  liberal  Catholi- 
cism of  their  views  respecting  other  religious 
beliefs,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that,  as 
everywhere  else  in  South  America,  Roman 
Catholicism  is  the  religion  of  the  state — an 
Episcopal  seminary,  conspicuously  located  in 
a  beautiful  building  opposite  the  Jardim 
Publico.  By  mentioning  particularly  these 
institutions,  I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that 
there  are  not  excellent  educational  facilities 
elsewhere  in  Brazil — especially,  of  course,  in 

179 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Rio — but  the  people  of  Sao  Paulo  seem  to 
devote  more  attention  to  education  than  in 
the  other  parts  of  the  country  and  the  per- 
centage of  illiteracy  there,  among  the  people 
as  a  whole,  appears  to  be  much  smaller. 

The  Governor's  Palace  and  the  principal 
office  buildings  of  the  administration  are  lo- 
cated around  two  large  squares,  one  called 
the  Largo  de  Palacio,  the  other  the  Praca 
Municipal,  in  the  heart  of  the  city.  Several 
of  them  are  spacious,  imposing-looking  build- 
ings of  stone  and  marble  that  compare  fa- 
vorably with  those  of  the  national  government 
at  Rio ;  all  are  in  keeping  with  the  importance 
of  the  city  and  State — particularly  their 
superb  big  theater,  which  is  another  of  those 
surprisingly  costly  and  attractive  places  of 
amusement  maintained  by  the  municipality 
that  one  sees  so  many  of  in  South  America. 
The  streets  in  the  Triangle,  as  the  com- 
mercial district  is  called,  are  crowded  and 
busy.  There  is  an  air  of  briskness  about 
them  that  is  refreshing — although  many  of 
the  busiest  are  narrow  and  unattractive  in 
appearance,  this  being  the  old  part  of  the 
town. 

Even  the  Rua  Sao  Bento,  the  principal 
180 


BRAZIL 

shopping  street,  is  not  much  wider  than 
the  Rua  do  Ouvidor  in  Rio;  but  from  this 
district  a  viaduct  eight  hundred  feet  long  and 
fifty  wide  leads  to  the  new  parts,  where  there 
are  broad,  handsomely  built-up  avenues  and 
shaded  promenades,  detached  houses  of  mod- 
ern type,  surrounded  by  gardens,  and  an 
atmosphere  of  ease  as  well  as  luxury,  as  in 
the  less  bustling  cities  to  the  north.  The 
Avenida  Paulista  is  charming.  There  are 
few  handsomer  thoroughfares  in  America, 
either  North  or  South,  than  this — and  it  is 
the  common  boast  that  along  the  Rua  des 
Palmeiras,  their  most  fashionable  residence 
street,  and  in  certain  of  the  suburbs,  the 
palatial  homes  of  their  millionaires  are  un- 
rivaled in  Brazil. 

The  great  coffee  port  of  Santos,  once 
numbered  among  the  dread  homes  of  Yellow 
Jack,  but  now  as  healthful  as  any  port  in 
the  tropics,  is  only  sixty  or  seventy  miles 
away  by  railroad — an  excellently  equipped 
road  that  runs  down  the  slope  from  the 
mountain  range  to  the  coast  over  a  route 
strikingly  rich  in  scenic  effects  and  grand 
views.  The  city,  which  has  a  population  of 
about  sixty  thousand,  is  situated  on  the  west- 

181 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

ern  shore  of  a  landlocked  bay  connected  with 
the  ocean  by  a  narrow  but  deep  riverlike 
channel,  ten  miles  long  and  flanked,  like  the 
city  itself,  by  picturesque  hills.  The  streets 
are  well  paved  and  clean,  the  residence  sec- 
tion and  suburbs  attractive,  and  a  narrow- 
gauge  railroad  affords  an  opportunity  for  an 
enjoyable  trip  to  a  seaside  resort  near  by, 
where  there  are  good  surf-bathing  and  plenty 
of  places  of  amusement. 

It  is  said  that  more  than  10,000,000  bags 
of  coffee,  each  weighing  132  pounds,  are 
shipped  from  this  port  every  year.  The  ex- 
tensive system  of  masonry  docks  and  cranes 
is  famous  for  its  efficiency  and  is  the  best 
in  South  America  next  to  that  in  Buenos 
Aires.  The  big  steamers  and  sailing  ves- 
sels lying  broadside  to  these  docks  and  an- 
chored in  the  broad  harbor,  the  custom  house 
and  warehouses  facing  the  quay,  the  groups 
of  dealers  and  agents  standing  bargaining 
out  in  front,  the  sailors  scurrying  about,  the 
heavy  teams  heaped  up  with  sacks  of  coffee, 
the  long  lines  of  negro  stevedores,  each  with 
a  bag  or  two  balanced  on  his  head,  carrying 
them  aboard  the  ships,  all  working  in  the 
blazing  sun  in  this  labyrinth  of  white-walled 


BRAZIL 

streets,  with  their  background  of  green  hills 
and  blue  water,  make  up  a  scene  that  is  both 
lively  and  bizarre. 

The  custom  of  coffee  drinking  is  relatively 
of  rather  recent  development  among  peoples 
of  Europe  and  their  descendants  in  America. 
For  some  reason,  for  a  long  time  after  it  made 
its  way  west  from  Arabia  and  Turkey,  it 
was  under  the  ban  of  the  church.  Maybe  this 
was  because  of  its  Mohammedan  origin.  It 
was  not  until  1652  that  the  first  house  that 
made  a  specialty  of  serving  coffee  was  opened 
in  London,  and  about  the  same  time  it  was 
introduced  in  France.  From  then  on  it  has 
spread  until  the  amount  now  consumed  the 
world  over  is  simply  enormous,  especially  in 
the  United  States,  where  we  take  somewhere 
near  half  of  all  that  is  grown.  At  first  it 
came  only  from  northern  Africa,  Arabia, 
and  Turkey;  then  the  Dutch  began  experi- 
menting and  succeeded  in  cultivating  it  in 
Java,  and  the  French  in  the  West  Indies. 
For  a  while  these  were  the  principal  sources 
of  supply.  The  story  goes  that  in  1760  a 
Portuguese,  Joao  Alberto  Castello  Branco, 
planted  a  bush  in  Rio,  and  from  that  small 
start,  thanks  to  her  peculiarly  favorable  soil 

183 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

and  climate,  Brazil  soon  outstripped  the 
others  and  took  the  lead.  And  it  is  in  these 
uplands  of  the  State  of  Sao  Paulo  that  more 
than  half  of  all  of  this  enormous  amount  of 
coffee  that  is  consumed  in  the  world  to-day 
is  produced.  There  are  between  fifteen  and 
twenty  thousand  cafezals,  or  plantations,  em- 
ploying hundreds  of  thousands  of  laborers, 
and  some  of  the  plantations  are  so  vast  that 
they  grow  millions  of  trees.  Here  it  is  that 
most  of  the  immigrants  flock.  There  is  a 
million  of  Italians  alone. 

The  general  contour  of  the  country  is  not 
flat  but  rolling.  In  great  patches  the  bushy 
little  trees  cover  the  hills  and  valleys  in  long, 
parallel  rows,  from  six  to  eight  feet  high,  for 
they  are  kept  pruned  to  a  certain  height  to 
facilitate  cultivation.  The  leaves  are  dark 
green  and  glossy,  somewhat  resembling 
myrtle,  only  not  so  dry  and  thick;  the  flowers 
are  white  and  grow  in  clusters  from  the  axils 
of  the  branches ;  the  fruit,  when  ripe,  is  about 
the  size  of  and  resembles  a  dark  red  cherry, 
and  grows  in  clusters,  like  the  flowers,  and 
the  air  is  fragrant  with  perfume.  No  more 
beautiful  sight  could  be  imagined  than  one 
of  these  plantations  in  full  bloom.  Each  of 

184 


BRAZIL 

the  red  berries  contains  two  coffee  beans,  em- 
bedded in  a  yellowish,  sweetish  pulp.  The 
bean,  in  its  natural  shape,  is  convex  on  one 
.side  and  flat  on  the  other.  As  sold  on  the 
market,  with  the  shell,  pulp  and  skin  removed 
by  a  mechanical  process  that  requires  an 
expensive  outfit  of  machinery,  the  product  is 
the  result  of  a  development  in  agricultural 
methods  that  is  not  surpassed  in  the  wheat 
industry  of  Argentina  or  our  own  country, 
and  which  is  very  far  ahead  of  that  of  the 
rubber  industry  in  the  north.  It  is  said  that 
no  new  trees  have  been  planted  since  1903 
because  the  production  has  been  so  great 
that  the  government  has  thought  best  to 
restrict  it  until  the  demand  shall  once  more 
have  equaled  the  supply.  The  reverse  of  this 
condition  has  existed  for  several  years. 

The  neighbors  of  the  Paulistas  in  the  State 
of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul  are  principally  en- 
gaged (with  Paraguay)  in  supplying  the 
twenty  or  more  millions  of  consumers  in 
South  America  and  growing  numbers  else- 
where, with  the  leaves  from  which  the  bev- 
erage is  made  that  is  known  as  yerba  mate, 
or  Paraguay  tea,  which  those  who  drink  it 
contend  has  all  the  stimulating  and  nourish- 

185 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

ing  qualities  of  the  tea  we  use,  but  none  of 
its  injurious  effects.  Next  to  coffee  and 
rubber,  this  is  the  greatest  of  Brazil's  sources 
of  revenue.  These  southerners  also  raise 
cattle  and  sheep  on  a  large  scale — though  not 
yet  sufficiently  large  for  export — and  do  a 
good  deal  of  canning  and  manufacturing. 
Their  principal  seaport,  Porto  Alegre  (Smil- 
ing Port),  has  a  population  of  nearly  150,- 
000,  and,  as  in  Pernambuco  and  Rio,  and 
all  the  big  coast  cities  in  fact,  extensive  har- 
bor improvements  are  under  way.  This  city 
too  is  to  have  a  system  of  masonry  docks 
and  hoisting  machinery  and  new  warehouses 
along  the  quay.  A  few  miles  north,  and 
connected  with  Porto  Alegre  by  railroad,  is 
Sao  Leopoldo,  the  port  of  a  large  German 
colony  that  was  founded  in  the  State  nearly 
a  hundred  years  ago. 

From  Rio  it  is  possible  also  to  go  by  rail- 
road to  Bello  Horizonte,  the  remarkable  capi- 
tal of  Minas  Geraes,  the  most  densely  popu- 
lated of  all  the  Brazilian  States.  This  city  is 
unique  in  that  it  did  not  have  its  beginning  in 
the  usual  way  and  get  itself  chosen  as  the 
capital;  it  was  built  only  a  few  years  ago 
on  a  previously  unoccupied  site  for  the  very 

186 


BRAZIL 

purpose,  and  at  a  cost,  for  only  the  buildings 
owned  by  the  government,  of  more  than  $30,- 
000,000.  It  is  located  in  a  lovely,  wooded, 
farm-dotted  valley,  through  the  length  of 
which  flows  a  river,  interrupted  at  inter- 
vals by  cascades.  Near  the  city,  both  sides 
of  the  stream  have  been  converted  into  a 
delightful  park.  One  of  the  avenues  that 
run  through  the  center  of  the  city  is  named 
for  its  founder,  Alfonso  Penna,  and  is  a 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide  and  shaded  by 
three  rows  of  trees.  The  hotels  are  com- 
fortable, train  service  good,  and  the  journey 
through  a  country  of  beautiful  scenery  and 
interesting  people  and  towns. 

This  is  the  great  mining  State  of  Brazil. 
Of  it  Marie  Robinson  Wright  says:  "Few 
countries  can  boast  of  such  an  abundance  and 
variety  of  mineral  resources  as  Minas  Geraes, 
which  derives  its  name,  signifying  General 
Mines,  from  the  industry  that  gave  it  ex- 
istence, and  which  owes  to  this  principal 
attraction  the  preponderance  of  its  popula- 
tion." Gold  was  not  discovered  during  the 
first  two  hundred  years  after  settlement  had 
been  begun  by  the  Portuguese,  but,  when  it 
was  at  last  discovered,  the  yield  was  very 

187 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

great.  In  1792  the  amount  registered  in  Rio 
— and  this  record,  of  course,  was  incomplete — 
was  360,000  pounds  in  weight.  An  English 
authority  has  estimated  the  total  output  up 
to  within  recent  years  at  £200,000,000  ster- 
ling. "Of  all  the  fabulous  tales  related  of 
bonanza  princes,"  Mrs.  Wright  goes  on  to 
say,  "the  palm  for  extravagance  belongs  to 
the  history  of  the  early  mining  days  in  Brazil, 
when  horses  were  shod  with  gold,  when  law- 
yers supported  their  pleadings  before  judges 
with  gifts  of  what  appeared  at  first  sight  to 
be  the  choicest  oranges  and  bananas,  but 
proved  to  be  solid  gold  imitations,  when 
guests  were  entertained  at  dinner  by  the  dis- 
covery of  gold  pebbles  in  their  soup  instead 
of  grains  of  corn,  when  nuggets  were  the 
most  convenient  means  of  exchange  in  the 
money  market;"  but  here,  as  in  some  of  our 
own  mining  regions,  with  the  gradual  ex- 
haustion of  the  surface  deposits  and  the  im- 
possibility of  continuing  by  primitive  meth- 
ods, mining  came  to  be  more  and  more 
neglected.  Modern  methods  and  machinery 
are  once  more  bringing  the  industry  into 
prominence,  and  a  considerable  amount  of 
gold  is  even  now  being  taken  out  by  the 

188 


BRAZIL 

few   companies   that   have   already   installed 
up-to-date  plants. 

The  diamond  mines  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  old  town  of  Diamantina  (also  easily  ac- 
cessible by  rail)  have  been  famous  since  the 
first  discoveries  were  made  in  1727.  In  these 
parts  several  of  the  most  valuable  gems  in  the 
world  are  said  to  have  been  found — for 
instance,  the  Braganza,  the  richest  of  the 
Crown  jewels  of  Portugal,  the  Regent, 
named  in  honor  of  Dom  Joao  VI,  the 
Estrella  do  Sul  (Star  of  the  South),  that 
weighed  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  carats 
after  lapidation  and  was  purchased  by  the 
Rajah  of  Baroda,  it  is  said,  for  $15,000,000, 
and  the  Dresden,  which  weighed  sixty-five 
carats  after  lapidation  and  was  also  bought 
by  an  Indian  prince.  For  many  years,  until 
the  South  African  mines  came  into  competi- 
tion, this  was  the  chief  source  of  the  world's 
supply.  The  country  is  also  rich  in  ame- 
thysts, tourmalines,  topazes  and  aquamarines. 
The  State  of  Bahia  is  still  the  principal  source 
of  the  black  diamond,  known  as  the  carbo- 
nado. The  largest  carbonado  known  was 
found  there  in  1835.  It  weighed  3150  carats. 


189 


Ill 

ARGENTINA 


NO  nation  of  the  southern  continent  is 
better  qualified  than  Argentina  to  re- 
buke the  stupid  jest  that  refers  to  the 
Latin- American  countries  as  opera  bouffe  re- 
publics. It  has  a  domain  one-third  the  size 
of  the  United  States,  or  as  large  as  the  ter- 
ritory lying  east  of  the  Mississippi,  with 
Texas  added,  stretching  from  tropic  heat  to 
antarctic  cold,  and  possessing  a  frontage  on 
the  Atlantic  as  extensive  as  our  own  coast  line 
from  Portland,  Maine,  to  Key  West,  Flor- 
ida. It  has  over  500,000,000  acres  of  its 
1,135,840  square  miles  of  area  available  for 
the  cultivation  of  life-sustaining  products  and 
distributed  over  vast,  treeless,  well-watered 
plains,  every  one  of  which  is  easily  accessible 
to  the  seaboard  with  the  simplest  of  railway 
construction.  These  plains  have  no  such 

190 


ARGENTINA 

natural  obstructions  to  transportation  as  our 
Alleghanies  or  Rockies,  and  have  for  their 
produce  a  much  shorter  haul  to  the  European 
world  of  consumers. 

Argentina  has  the  further  advantage  of 
over  18,000  miles  of  up-to-date  railways  ra- 
diating from  its  port  cities,  and  five  river  sys- 
tems, one  of  which,  La  Plata,  the  outlet  for 
the  waters  of  the  Parana  and  Uruguay,  is 
second  only  to  the  Amazon  among  the  world's 
great  rivers.  It  is  180  miles  wide  at  its 
mouth,  and  pours  into  the  Atlantic  a  flood 
greater  by  eighty  per  cent,  than  that  cast  by 
the  Mississippi  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

The  timber  regions  of  the  country  are  rich 
in  structural  and  cabinet  woods.  It  has  a 
grazing  industry  that  ranks  second  only  to 
Australia  in  sheep,  second  only  to  the  United 
States  in  cattle,  and  second  only  to  the  United 
States  and  Russia  in  horses.  In  1910  it  ex- 
ported to  Europe  190,430  live  animals  and 
$130,000,000  worth  of  frozen  beef,  mutton, 
pork,  hides,  and  other  animal  products.  Its 
total  foreign  commerce  amounted  to  $702,- 
664,810  in  value.  It  has  an  agricultural 
output  that  places  it  in  the  first  rank  of  ex- 
porters of  maize  and  linseed,  second  to  Rus- 

191 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

sia  in  the  export  of  wheat,  and  among  the 
leaders  in  corn,  a  soil  that  can  grow  still 
greater  quantities  of  sugar,  tobacco,  rice,  al- 
falfa, grapes,  fruits,  yerba  mate  (Paraguay 
tea),  olives,  corn,  barley,  and  oats,  besides 
medicinal,  textile,  and  tinctorial  plants,  en- 
abling her  to  export  more  foodstuffs,  includ- 
ing meats  and  grains,  than  any  other  nation 
on  the  globe — a  productiveness  so  great  that 
farms  are  measured  in  some  sections  by  the 
square  league,  instead  of  by  the  paltry  acre, 
as  with  us,  and  grains  are  sold  by  the  metric 
ton  of  2205  pounds,  instead  of  by  the  bushel. 
Its  mountains  contain  profitably  workable  de- 
posits of  gold,  silver,  and  copper,  and  oil  has 
been  found  in  paying  quantities. 

It  has  a  metropolis  and  seaport  (its  cap- 
ital, Buenos  Aires)  reckoned  as  the  second 
Latin  city  in  the  world,  possessing  a  popula- 
tion of  over  a  million  and  a  quarter,  and 
adorned  with  buildings,  parks,  surface  im- 
provements, and  evidences  of  wealth  and 
culture  that  stamp  it  as  one  of  the  finest  cities 
of  the  Western  Hemisphere. 

It  has  a  stable  and  enlightened  government, 
constituted  on  the  same  general  plan  as  our 
own,  and  advancing  rapidly  to  a  near  ap- 

192 


ARGENTINA 

proximation  to  our  own  in  efficiency.  It  has 
a  history  rich,  in  its  later  years,  in  traditions 
of  statesmanship  and  patriotism,  bearing  on 
its  roll  of  honor  the  names  of  such  statesmen, 
soldiers,  educators,  and  executives  as  Bel- 
grano,  San  Martin,  Alvear,  Puyrredon,  Riva- 
davia,  Mitre,  and  Sarmiento,  names  worthy 
of  special  reverence  among  a  people  familiar 
with  the  standards  set  by  Washington  and 
Lincoln.  In  a  word,  with  all  this  material 
greatness,  and  such  a  record  of  energetic  and 
enlightened  adaptation  to  world  progress, 
Argentina  may,  in  the  not  distant  future, 
turn  the  jest  against  its  northern  perpetra- 
tors; for  a  country  with  a  population  of 
seven  millions,  which  could  feed  two  hundred 
million  people  and  give  lodging  to  half  that 
number,  is  a  competitor  to  be  reckoned  with 
seriously  in  the  struggle  for  commercial  su- 
premacy. 

Such,  then,  is  the  country  of  superlatives 
that  opens  up  before  the  visitor  who  enters 
at  its  gateway,  Buenos  Aires,  and  breathes 
in  the  wholesome,  equable  breezes  from  the 
pampas — the  vast  green  plains  that  stretch 
away  for  hundreds  of  miles  in  three  direc- 
tions; he  agrees  at  once  that  the  City  of 

193 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Good  Airs  was  well  named  by  Pedro  de 
Mendoza  when  he  planted  his  ill-fated  settle- 
ment on  its  site  in  1535. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  this  wide-awake, 
rapidly  growing  community  buys  so  much 
more  largely  in  the  European  markets  than 
ours.  In  1910,  of  the  total  amount  they  paid 
for  imports  ($351,770,056),  our  share  was 
only  $48,418,892.  But  then,  as  they  point 
out,  they  are  our  competitors  in  the  markets 
of  Europe.  Their  cereals  and  beef  and  hides 
and  wool  have  no  place  in  the  United  States, 
a  country  that  produces  and  exports  the  same 
things,  and  they  manufacture  no  articles  that 
we  want;  so  it  is  only  fair  that  they  should 
deal  with  those  who  buy  of  them.  When  it 
came  to  a  question  of  who  should  build  their 
last  two  big  battleships,  however,  they  did  fa- 
vor our  shipyards  with  the  contracts.  Both 
of  these  are  of  the  super-dreadnought  type 
and  have  already  been  launched. 

The  Parisian  is  pleased  to  say,  "Paris  is 
France";  with  even  greater  significance  may 
the  Buenos  Airean  say  that  Buenos  Aires  is 
Argentina.  Out  of  his  pride  in  his  great  city, 
the  Porteno  will  tell  one  that  Argentina  really 
has  but  two  parts,  as  a  matter  of  fact:  the 

194 


ARGENTINA 

one,  Buenos  Aires;  the  other — all  the  rest  of 
the  country — called  El  Campo  (the  Camp), 
regardless  that  he  includes  in  this  sweeping 
assertion  such  other  railroad  centers  and 
ports  as  Rosario,  La  Plata,  Parana,  Tucu- 
man,  Cordoba,  or  Bahia  Blanca — all  of  them 
cities  exceeding  fifty  thousand  in  population 
and  one  of  them,  Rosario,  exceeding  one  hun- 
dred thousand.  And,  indeed,  the  Bonarenses 
may  well  be  proud  of  their  metropolis.  One- 
fifth  of  the  country's  inhabitants  is  absorbed 
into  its  teeming  life  of  industry  and  luxury; 
it  is  the  crystallization  of  all  that  this  mod- 
ernized young  giant  stands  for  in  the  world 
of  commerce;  it  is  the  greatest  Spanish-speak- 
ing city  in  the  world. 

Its  dominant  position  was  not  achieved, 
however,  without  years  of  contention  with 
other  centers  of  industry  in  the  country.  Dur- 
ing the  three  hundred  years  of  Spain's  stifling 
economic  policies  in  this,  once  the  agricul- 
tural unit  of  her  golden  empire,  Argentina 
made  small  progress.  The  settlements 
founded  in  Santiago  (1553),  in  Tucuman 
(1565),  and  in  Cordoba  and  Santa  Fe 
(1573),  by  the  immigration  of  Spaniards 
from  Peru,  Chile,  and  the  early  settlement 

195 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

of  Buenos  Aires,  all  led  an  isolated  and 
neglected  existence  during  the  colonial  period 
up  to  the  year  1776,  when  Spain,  awakened 
from  her  dream  of  endless  mineral  riches  in 
South  America  to  a  realization  of  the  im- 
portance of  the  fertile  country  of  La  Plata, 
and  erected  it  into  a  separate  viceroyalty,  in- 
dependent of  the  Viceroyalty  of  Peru.  The 
viceroys,  freed  from  the  poisoning  influence 
of  Andean  gold  lust,  did  much  to  develop  a 
sense  of  nationalism  among  the  scattered  ag- 
ricultural centers.  With  the  growth  of  this 
nationalism,  the  protests  against  Spain's  re- 
pression increased  until  1810,  when  the  peo- 
ple asserted  their  right  to  an  unrestricted, 
independent  national  life.  May  twenty-fifth 
of  that  year  is  their  Fourth  of  July,  and  is 
perpetuated  to-day  in  the  name  of  the  superb 
Avenida  de  Mayo  in  their  capital  city. 

During  the  formative  period  that  followed, 
Argentine  politics  revolved  chiefly  about  the 
question  of  Unitarianism  or  Federalism  — 
whether  the  rich  and  progressive  province  at 
the  gateway  of  the  nation  (Buenos  Aires) 
should  form  a  separate  unit  of  government, 
or  remain  part  of  a  confederation  and  be  ac- 
corded the  leading  role  in  national  affairs 

196 


ARGENTINA 

that  its  importance  merited.  In  1862  fed- 
eralism prevailed  and  the  integrity  of  the 
Argentine  Republic  was  assured,  under  the 
presidency  of  General  Mitre.  The  capital 
was  later  removed  from  Santa  Fe  to  Buenos 
Aires  and  the  latter  city  erected  into  a  fed- 
eral district  (of  some  seventy  square  miles) 
somewhat  similar  to  our  own  District  of  Co- 
lumbia. The  capital  of  the  Province  of  Bue- 
nos Aires,  however,  is  La  Plata,  a  few  miles 
distant  from  the  national  capital,  on  the 
shores  of  the  great  river. 

This  period  marks  the  beginning  of  the 
real  history  of  the  Argentine  nation.  Under 
the  enlightened  statesmanship  of  Bartolome 
Mitre  and  Sarmiento,  the  two  chief  figures 
in  Argentina's  rapid  development  from  this 
point,  the  great  influx  of  British  and  German 
capital  began.  Immigration  was  encouraged 
for  the  working  of  the  fields;  a  solid  founda- 
tion was  given  to  educational  development; 
railroads  were  constructed,  and  the  machinery 
of  government  made  adequate  to  the  vig- 
orous strides  of  the  solidified  nation.  In  the 
short  space  of  time  that  has  passed  since 
1881,  over  two  billions  of  dollars  of  British 
and  German  gold  have  been  invested;  some 

197 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

eighteen  thousand  miles  of  well-equipped  rail- 
ways have  been  constructed,  almost  wholly 
by  English  capital;  immigration  has  doubled 
the  population  of  the  country  so  that  now 
half  its  present  inhabitants  are  foreign-born 
— during  the  last  ten  years  alone  two  mil- 
lions have  come  in — and  a  thorough  system 
of  education  has  been  perfected,  embracing, 
among  all  sorts  of  primary,  military,  and  in- 
dustrial institutions,  three  great  universities, 
one  of  which,  at  Buenos  Aires,  graduated 
over  five  thousand  young  men  last  year  and, 
with  the  University  of  Cordoba  (founded  in 
1613),  ranks  with  Harvard  and  Yale.  In 
1910  they  celebrated  the  centennial  anniver- 
sary of  their  independence  with  a  superb 
industrial  exposition  that  was  a  revelation 
even  to  themselves,  and  festivities  that  are 
said  to  have  cost  $20,000,000. 

The  city  of  Buenos  Aires  has  not  the 
picturesque  environment  that  adds  so  much 
to  the  natural  beauty  of  the  cities  of  Rio  de 
Janeiro  and  Mexico,  nor  the  harbor  capac- 
ity of  New  York;  nor  are  its  culture  and 
civic  personality,  perhaps,  as  deep-rooted  as 
in  Boston;  it  makes  little  pretension  to  the 
aristocracy  of  blood  boasted  by  the  still  es- 

198 


ARGENTINA 

sentially  Spanish  Lima;  nor  has  it  yet  at- 
tained such  distinction  as  a  national  center 
of  art,  literature,  and  music  as  has  the  Bra- 
zilian capital.  It  may  be  best  compared  with 
Chicago,  for  it  is  conspicuously  modern,  its 
present  development  having  been  begun  and 
achieved  within  the  last  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, although  the  city  itself  is  nearly  four 
hundred  years  old,  and  is  the  industrial  com- 
plement of  an  agricultural  and  pastoral  ac- 
tivity even  greater  than  that  of  our  Middle 
West.  Indeed,  its  banks  and  clearing  houses 
are  said  to  transact  quite  as  much  business 
as  those  of  Chicago. 

The  docks  of  Buenos  Aires,  like  those  of 
our  great  lake  city,  are  most  impressive;  they 
represent  an  outlay  of  $50,000,000.  Only 
fifteen  years  ago  the  visitor  was  bundled 
ashore  in  a  rowboat  and  deposited  on  a 
marshy  beach.  Now  his  vessel  enters  one  of 
the  numerous  basins  of  the  vast  dock  sys- 
tem and  confronts  row  upon  row  of  massive 
masonry  and  cement  wharves,  behind  which 
spreads  a  network  of  railway  lines.  In  the 
background  are  public  gardens  with  flowering 
bushes  and  statuary  to  beautify  the  approach 
to  the  city.  For  mile  after  mile,  flanked  by 

199 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

a  seemingly  endless  procession  of  great  trans- 
Atlantic  ships  and  up-river  produce  boats, 
these  docks  stretch  their  length,  not  in  a  se- 
ries of  slips,  as  along  the  congested  water- 
front in  New  York,  but  so  arranged  that  the 
vessels  can  moor  broadside  to  them  and  have 
their  cargoes  loaded  or  unloaded  by  enor- 
mous traveling  cranes;  and,  without,  lying  at 
anchor  in  the  river  awaiting  their  turn  for 
a  berth,  are  many  more — for  this  giant  en- 
terprise, with  towering  grain  elevators  and  a 
veritable  forest  of  powerful  cranes,  already 
fails  entirely  to  satisfy  present  needs.  They 
are  not  only  to  be  extended  but  so  enlarged 
that  they  will  accommodate  vessels  of  the 
heaviest  draft. 

Not  even  the  New  York  wharves  with 
their  vast  commerce  give  such  a  picture  of 
vivid  bustle.  The  big  German  "Cap"  boats 
— Cap  Ortegal,  Cap  Frio,  and  the  rest; 
French,  Spanish,  and  Italian  liners  with 
champagne,  aperitives,  opera  companies,  auto- 
mobiles and  immigrants — always  immigrants; 
Newcastle  freighters  unloading  bolted  sec- 
tions of  steel  bridges;  up-river  boats  laden 
with  yerba  mate  or  fragrant  oranges  from 
Paraguay,  and  the  aristocrats  of  these  seas, 

200 


ARGENTINA 

the  Royal  Mails  from  England — all  con- 
tribute to  the  pell-mell,  reminding  one  of  the 
blurred  babel  of  tongues  that  whispers  across 
the  decks  of  the  world's  ships  in  the  drowsy 
passage  through  the  Suez  Canal. 

And,  parenthetically,  a  most  telling  com- 
mentary on  our  indifference  to  Argentine 
possibilities  lies  in  the  fact  that  of  the  many 
thousand  vessels  that  transferred  cargoes  at 
these  docks  in  1910,  only  four  bore  the  stars 
and  stripes;  whereas,  prior  to  our  Civil  War 
(which,  of  course,  absorbed  our  merchant  ma- 
rine)— in  1852 — there  were  in  the  harbor  of 
Buenos  Aires  six  hundred  vessels  flying  our 
flag,  or  more  than  double  the  number  from 
all  other  nations  combined.  In  those  days  the 
influence  of  our  people  over  the  commerce 
of  the  southern  half  of  South  America  was 
predominant.  A  Pennsylvanian,  William 
Wheelright,  was  looked  upon  as  its  father. 

On  leaving  the  docks  and  driving  up  into 
the  city,  the  visitor  is  at  once  impressed  with 
the  fact  that  Buenos  Aires  is  not  so  wholly 
wrapped  up  in  the  purely  material  as  is  our 
commercial  center  on  Lake  Michigan.  It  has 
broadened  along  more  aesthetic  lines  and  is 
cultivating  the  graces,  not  alone  the  sordid 

201 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

features,  of  cosmopolitanism.  In  the  newer 
parts,  particularly  in  the  fashionable  suburb 
of  Belgrano,  the  buildings  and  shaded  boule- 
vards and  beautifully  landscaped  parks  re- 
semble rather  those  of  Paris;  although  it  is 
not  behind  our  own  big  cities  in  public  utili- 
ties. Even  in  the  business  district  there  are 
no  skyscrapers  or  elevated  railroads  to  dis- 
turb the  harmony  of  the  architectural  scheme ; 
not  even  the  usual  promiscuous,  blatant  ad- 
vertising posters  are  permitted  to  be  dis- 
played until  they  have  been  censored  by  the 
proper  official,  and  when  approved  they  are 
affixed  to  ornamentally  tinted  and  paneled 
billboards,  erected  for  the  purpose.  So  keen, 
indeed,  are  the  Bonarenses  to  enhance  the 
beauty  of  their  city  that  a  prize  is  offered 
each  year  for  the  handsomest  structure  to  be 
erected.  And  yet  there  is  much  that  is  pos- 
sessed of  the  charm  of  antiquity.  The  occa- 
sional glimpses  of  blossoms  and  foliage  one 
gets  through  doorways  opening  into  the  court- 
yards, or  patios,  of  the  old  Spanish  houses 
is  most  refreshing  in  the  midst  of  so  much 
that  is  modern. 

It  is  from  Paris,  too,  that  they  have  ac- 
quired their  culture,  and  their  taste  in  dress 

202 


ARGENTINA 

and  amusements  and  in  literature  and  art. 
They  buy  their  clothes  in  Paris  and  sip  their 
French  liqueurs  in  the  cafes  in  true  Parisian 
style,  and  they  are  entertained  by  opera  and 
comedy  companies  from  the  best  Parisian 
theaters.  They  have  absorbed  into  their  city 
life  an  Italian  colony  that  exceeds  in  num- 
bers the  population  of  Genoa,  and  more 
Spaniards  than  could  be  crowded  into  To- 
ledo, besides  a  multitude  of  British  and  Ger- 
mans and  a  goodly  sprinkling  from  the  rest 
of  Europe,  and  even  Asia.  Having  taken  so 
much  from  France  and  Italy,  and  being 
Spanish  in  descent  and  in  speech,  the  over- 
tone of  the  city  is  distinctly  Latin,  while 
their  industrial  and  governmental  institutions 
bear  the  mark  of  the  Anglo-Saxon.  Next  to 
the  Italian  and  Spanish,  the  British  colony  is 
the  largest.  Then  follow  the  German  and 
the  French.  The  North  Americans  are  small 
in  number;  less  than  three  hundred  responded 
to  a  recent  effort  to  organize  a  North  Amer- 
ican Society. 

The  Bonarenses,  however,  like  the  deni- 
zens of  the  Camp,  are  intensely  patriotic  and 
passionately  insist  upon  a  recognition  of  their 
own  distinct  personalities.  They  are  the  Por- 

203 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

tenos  of  the  great  Argentine  nation.  Nor 
do  they  and  their  compatriots  throughout 
the  country  welcome  the  inference  that  they 
are  Spanish;  they  are  Argentine.  One  asks 
a  child  of  the  streets  whether  he  speaks  Span- 
ish or  Italian.  He  answers  haughtily  (in  the 
former  language)  :  "At  home  we  all  talk  Ar- 
gentine." Strangely  enough,  their  jingoism 
is  not  offensive;  it  is  displayed  with  an 
amiable  candor  that  is  quite  disarming.  Not 
satisfied  with  being  Argentine  from  top  to 
toe,  they  seek  to  Argentinize  even  the  tran- 
sient guest.  The  rabid  Argentinism  of  the 
Porteno,  and  his  success  in  amalgamating  the 
kaleidoscopic  horde  of  Europeans  and  Asiat- 
ics living  in  his  city,  is  illustrated  by  the  an- 
swer of  another  youthful  immigrant  who, 
unable  to  deny  that  he  was  born  in  Genoa, 
murmured  apologetically,  "I  was  so  little." 

One  of  their  leading  daily  newspapers, 
La  Prensa,  which  has  the  handsomest  news- 
paper building  in  existence,  displays  its 
patriotism  by  devoting  a  large  part  of  its 
home  to  public  uses.  At  its  own  expense  it 
provides  physicians  and  a  consulting  room, 
where  the  poor  can  have  medical  attention 
free,  a  law  office  where  those  who  cannot  af- 

204 


_.v. j •  ~  '— 


COLON    THEATER,    BUENOS    AIRES. 


FEDERAL    CAPITOL,    BUENOS    AIRES. 


ARGENTINA 

ford  to  pay  for  it  can  have  legal  advice,  an 
excellent  museum  of  the  manufactures  and 
products  of  the  country,  a  free  technical  li- 
brary for  the  use  of  students,  a  large  hall 
for  public  meetings,  a  charming  salon  des 
fetes,  in  which  literary,  scientific,  and  chari- 
table entertainments  are  given.  This  paper 
has  a  circulation  of  more  than  150,000.  So 
have  La  Nacion  and  La  Argentina,  the  two 
other  big  morning  dailies.  There  are  225 
periodicals  published  in  the  capital  all  to- 
gether. 

In  this  most  cosmopolitan  of  cities  the  for- 
eigners foregather  in  little  worlds  of  their 
own.  Most  are  represented  by  newspapers 
published  in  their  own  languages,  most  have 
clubhouses,  more  or  less  pretentious.  On 
the  same  evening  one  season  recently  "The 
Merry  Widow"  was  produced  in  Spanish, 
French,  and  Italian  in  as  many  different 
theaters;  and  there  are  all  sorts  of  places  of 
amusement  where  foreigners  can  enjoy  them- 
selves, each  after  his  own  fashion — from  an 
immense  artificial  ice  skating  rink  (a  very 
fashionable  resort,  by  the  way)  to  a  tropical 
coffee  house,  from  a  golf  or  race  course  to 
a  pool  room  or  bowling  alley,  from  the  most 

205 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

attractive  and  elegantly  equipped  of  modern 
cafes  to  a  little  French  domino  parlor  or 
German  beer  saloon,  from  a  magnificent 
opera  house  to  a  cheap  vaudeville  or  moving- 
picture  theater.  It  is  said  that  the  fore- 
most European  artists  are  as  likely  to  visit 
Argentina  as  the  United  States,  and  often 
do,  and  that  many,  of  all  but  the  first  rank 
in  their  own  countries  and  who  do  not  come 
to  North  America  at  all,  visit  Buenos  Aires 
regularly  and  present  European  successes 
long  before  they  are  seen  in  New  York. 

Their  great  opera  house,  the  Colon,  that 
cost  $10,000,000  and  occupies  a  whole  square, 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world. 
There  is  none  in  New  York  or  Chicago,  or 
any  of  our  cities,  to  compare  with  it.  It  is  of 
French  design  and  built  of  stone,  and  the  in- 
terior is  finished  in  white  marble,  gold-bronze 
ornamentations  and  rich  red  drapery  and  up- 
holstery. It  is  not  quite  as  large  as  the 
Metropolitan  in  New  York,  but,  as  in  the 
Metropolitan,  the  two  lower  tiers  of  boxes 
are  occupied  by  the  families  of  the  "Four 
Hundred,"  for  their  grand  opera  down  there 
is  just  as  much  of  a  social  function  with 
them  as  it  is  with  the  smart  set  in  our  great- 

206 


ARGENTINA 

est  city;  and,  as  their  season  is  in  July  and 
August — winter  months  with  them — not  a 
few  of  the  singers  that  are  heard  at  the  Met- 
ropolitan later  on  are  heard  there  in  their 
season.  Above  the  boxes  are  two  balconies 
and  a  gallery  where  the  gods  congregate 
and  howl  for  encores  for  all  the  world  like 
our  own.  It  appears  that  they  are  not  very 
fond  of  Wagner  and  the  German  music,  these 
Bonarenses,  but  are  keen  for  the  Italian  and 
French;  so,  aside  from  the  opera,  competent 
French  and  Italian  companies  are  brought 
over  every  year  for  long  engagements  at 
other  theaters.  Also  there  are  French  opera 
comique,  Italian  farce,  and  English  musical 
comedy  companies,  French  cafe  cliantant, 
English  music  hall  and  our  own  vaudeville 
entertainers  without  end,  and  dramas,  even 
Shakespearean  occasionally,  and  the  other 
classes  of  performances,  following  each  other 
at  the  many  theaters  continually. 

Club  life  is  one  of  the  most  attractive 
features.  The  Britishers  (the  heaviest  in- 
vestors of  foreign  capital),  of  course,  have 
their  inevitable  cricket,  polo,  and  races — at 
Hurlingham,  near  the  city — and  have  erected 
a  substantial  country  clubhouse,  devoted 

207 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

largely  to  the  ritualistic  five  o'clock  tea.  The 
scene  on  the  broad  verandas  and  well-kept 
lawns  is  brilliant  in  the  afternoon,  with  the 
white  lace  gowns  of  the  women  and  the  white 
flannel  and  broadside  panamas  of  the  men. 
As  the  guest  looks  on  at  the  leisurely  game 
of  cricket  and  tea — for  these  rites  are  sol- 
emnized together  by  the  comfortable  Briton 
— he  can  easily  imagine  himself  at  Shanghai, 
Hong  Kong,  Singapore,  or  Cape  Town, 
where  the  same  function  is  taking  place  at  the 
same  hour  of  the  day,  on  club  grounds  almost 
identically  the  same,  and  to  the  accompani- 
ment of  the  same  elaborate  conversation: 
"Well  played,  old  chap."  The  Germans, 
Italians,  and  Spanish  also  have  luxurious 
clubhouses,  and  for  the  transient  visitor  the 
Club  de  Residentes  Estranjeros  affords  a 
delightful  retreat.  There  is  even  a  big,  hand- 
some building  for  the  Y.M.C.A. 

Among  the  fifty  or  more  social  organiza- 
tions in  Buenos  Aires,  the  Jockey  Club  is  the 
Argentine  cercle  par  excellence.  Its  home 
on  Calle  Florida  is  of  a  splendor  unsurpassed 
in  clubdom.  The  guest  who  is  fortunate 
enough  to  enjoy  its  courtesies  will  be  im- 
pressed by  the  perfect  taste  and  sumptuous- 

208 


ARGENTINA 

ness  of  its  appointments;  the  superb  marble 
stairway,  the  banquet  hall,  and  the  famous 
pictures  and  sculptures  are  equaled  in  but 
few  of  the  palaces  of  Europe.  Its  wealth, 
derived  from  an  initiation  fee  of  $4000  and 
annual  dues  of  $1500  for  each  member,  and 
a  "rake-off"  of  ten  per  cent,  of  the  amounts 
wagered  at  its  racetrack,  together  with  gate 
receipts,  accumulate  so  rapidly  that  it  is  a 
source  of  genuine  embarrassment  to  the  gov- 
erning board. 

A  short  time  ago  the  club  voted  to  de- 
vote its  surplus  to  the  purchase  of  a  dozen 
blocks  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  the  idea  be- 
ing to  transform  the  tract  into  a  beautiful 
boulevard.  It  would  have  cost  nearly  $14,- 
000,000  in  our  money.  The  project  was 
abandoned,  not  because  of  the  cost,  but  on 
the  ground  of  impracticability.  During  the 
racing  season,  held  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Club  at  Palermo  Park,  the  Porteno  is  seen  at 
his  best.  Paris  gowns  and  picture  hats  are 
displayed  in  profusion  in  the  grandstand, 
lawns,  and  luxurious  victorias  and  automo- 
biles that  line  the  course,  and  with  the  correct 
dress  and  animation  of  the  men,  and  the 
prodigality  everywhere  in  evidence  (last  sea- 

209 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

son  $25,000,000  was  placed  on  the  horses), 
the  scene  takes  on  an  aspect  truly  Parisian. 

As  might  be  expected  in  such  a  vigorously 
modern  city,  the  severest  of  the  restrictions 
on  social  intercourse  familiar  in  Latin  capitals 
are  here  impatiently  thrust  aside.  In  the  five 
o'clock  parade  of  the  fashionables  that  wends 
its  way  toward  the  beautiful  Palermo  Park 
on  Sundays,  there  are  no  closed  carriages  or 
dark  mantillas  to  conceal  the  allurements  of 
the  senoritas,  although  many  may  still  hud- 
dle demurely  at  the  sides  of  their  duefias 
while  they  distribute  the  most  decorous  of 
smiles  among  their  eager  acquaintances  of 
the  opposite  sex.  Here  palm-bordered  Sar- 
miento  Avenue  is  crowded  with  carriages  and 
motor  cars  six,  often  eight,  rows  deep,  two 
stationary  in  the  center  and  two  moving  on 
either  side,  in  which  ride  as  smartly  gowned 
women  as  may  be  seen  anywhere  in  America. 
In  the  same  throng  glimpses  may  be  caught 
of  reigning  music-hall  favorites,  at  whose 
sides  are  usually  to  be  found  care-free  horse- 
men just  in  from  the  Camp,  mounted  on 
superb  stallions  heavy  with  silver  trappings, 
and  generally  with  an  air  of  somewhat  less 
sophisticated  enjoyment  of  the  event. 

210 


ARGENTINA 

There  is  a  prodigality  about  the  Porteno 
in  his  pleasures  that  staggers  the  visitor  from 
the  North.  Backed  by  an  almost  limitless 
wealth  from  cattle  ranch  or  plantation,  he 
scatters  his  pesos  with  a  princely  hand.  And, 
of  course,  there  is  the  obverse  of  the  picture. 
There  is  the  under  world  here,  peopled 
largely  by  immigration  from  the  centers  of 
European  unrest,  in  which  there  is  to  be 
found  an  extreme  of  destitution.  This  is  the 
breeding  place  of  anarchistic  ideas,  that  fre- 
quently find  expression  in  violence  and  that 
are  surely  becoming  one  of  the  city's  most 
serious  problems. 

The  zest  for  amusement  among  all  classes 
finds  many  outlets.  Strolling  along  the  Calle 
Florida,  or  the  Calles  Cangallo,  Esmeralda, 
Cuyo,  Maipo,  and  other  well-paved,  brilliantly 
illuminated  streets  of  the  theater  district, 
after  the  fever  of  the  business  day  has  sub- 
sided, one  drops  in  at  the  "English  Bar,"  the 
"Bierhalle,"  "Confiteria,"  or  "Cafe  Parisien," 
and  is  sure  to  find  a  compatriot  to  join  him 
in  the  refreshment  of  his  predilection.  Or, 
for  the  more  solid  enjoyment  of  dinner,  the 
visitor,  whether  French,  North  American, 
Briton,  or  Turk,  can  find  his  favorite  national 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

dishes  excellently  served — at  the  Restaurant 
Charpentier,  where  an  orchestra,  really  good, 
will  for  the  moment  take  the  homesick 
Parisian  back  to  his  native  boulevards;  or 
at  the  "Sportsman,"  where  the  North  Amer- 
ican is  beguiled  from  his  nostalgia  by 
Sousa's  marches,  perhaps,  or  by  biograph 
pictures  of  steeple-chasers  and  Oriental 
dancers;  or  at  Monsch's  Restaurant,  which 
specializes  in  the  Briton's  needs — where,  with 
a  look  of  acute  understanding,  the  head  waiter 
will  permit  the  guest  to  select  his  own  Eng- 
lish mutton  chop  or  steak  from  the  glass- 
doored  ice  chest. 

The  outdoor  cafe  life  is  not  as  well  known, 
so  narrow  are  the  streets;  even  Calle  Flor- 
ida, which  is  the  essentially  fashionable  shop- 
ping street  of  the  central  town,  is  lamentably 
narrow.  With  the  exception  of  the  Avenida 
de  Mayo,  which  runs  from  the  plaza  con- 
taining the  Cathedral  and  President's  palace 
to  the  new  chambers  of  Congress,  and  divides 
the  city  into  its  northern  and  southern  sec- 
tions, and  the  Avenida  Alvear,  which  leads 
from  the  main  part  of  the  city  to  Palermo 
Park,  flanked  with  costly  homes  and  inter- 
spersed with  gardens  and  plazas  that  lend  a 


ARGENTINA 

wealth  of  verdure  and  flowers  to  the  broad 
avenue,  the  streets  are  so  narrow  that  in  the 
business  section  vehicles  are  required  by  city 
ordinances  to  move  in  the  same  direction, 
down  one  street  and  up  the  next.  But  in  this 
splendid,  stately  Avenida  de  Mayo  of  hers, 
which,  except  in  appearance,  has  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  business  part  of  New  York's 
Fifth  Avenue  from  Madison  Square  to  the 
Park,  Buenos  Aires  has  a  thoroughfare  that 
rivals  Rio's  Avenida  Central  in  beauty,  and, 
with  its  finer  hotels  and  cafes  and  French 
architecture,  possesses  even  more  of  the  at- 
tractions of  a  Parisian  boulevard. 

Buenos  Aires  is  not  a  city  that  calls  for 
the  usual  precautions  taken  by  travelers.  All 
the  creature  comforts  may  be  had  here,  al- 
though, it  must  be  confessed,  at  a  cost  greatly 
in  excess  of  prices  familiar  to  North  Amer- 
icans. There  are  good  physicians  and  den- 
tists, and  no  less  than  sixteen  hospitals — one 
of  which,  the  British  Hospital,  is  a  mag- 
nificently equipped  institution,  and  the  one 
patronized  by  the  American  colony.  There 
are  electric  street  cars  (which  carried  125,- 
000,000  passengers  last  year),  splendid  trains 
that  carry  passengers  in  thoroughly  modern 

213 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

and  well-served  coaches  to  almost  every  part 
of  the  settled  country,  first-class  carriages, 
taxicabs,  hotels,  department  stores,  and  shops 
of  every  description. 


ii 

Leaving  the  capital  for  a  general  tour 
through  Argentina,  the  visitor  will  soon  come 
to  appreciate  the  Porteno's  division  of  the 
republic  into  the  two  parts:  Buenos  Aires  and 
El  Campo.  For  the  greater  part,  the  Camp 
is  a  vast  plain,  covering  five  hundred  million 
acres  of  flat,  fertile  soil,  with  scarcely  a  nat- 
ural hillock  higher  than  those  thrown  up  by 
the  ants,  and  no  depression  more  marked 
than  those  which  the  cartwheels  have  plowed 
— stretching  from  horizon  to  horizon,  north, 
west,  and  south — vast,  silent,  and  awe-inspir- 
ing in  the  majesty  of  its  enormous  extent 
and  productiveness — the  calm,  inexhaustible 
bosom  which  suckles  the  prodigious  infant  on 
the  Plata. 

These  pampas  are  the  homes  of  the  es- 
tancieros,  the  name  given  to  the  masters  of 
the  great  breeding  ranches  and  plantations. 
Some  possess  estancias  that  are  really  feudal 


ARGENTINA 

in  extent;  one,  in  Patagonia,  is  as  large  as 
the  State  of  Rhode  Island.  Their  homes  and 
outbuildings  are  about  the  only  objects  that 
give  a  human  touch  to  the  mile  upon  mile 
of  cattle  ranges,  of  green  maize  and  golden 
wheat,  of  purple  alfalfa  and  vivid  blue  lin- 
seed flower,  unless  one  comes  upon  the  black 
mud  hut  of  the  colono,  or  small  farmer  who 
works  the  field  on  shares.  An  occasional 
clump  of  man-planted  trees  may  also  be  met 
with,  and  on  the  fringe  of  the  pampas  are  a 
few  widely  scattered  Indian  settlements;  but 
there  is  little  to  modify  the  metaphor  of  the 
ocean  so  universally  used  to  describe  these 
almost  limitless  plains.  Even  the  seagulls 
sweep  inland  for  hundreds  of  miles  to  add  to 
its  effectiveness.  When  the  very  heart  of  the 
country  is  reached,  the  traveler  may  scan  the 
horizon  from  every  point  of  the  compass  and 
know  that  in  every  direction  what  lies  beyond 
is  exactly  the  same. 

The  seasons,  which  are  much  like  our  own, 
although  exactly  the  reverse  in  their  occur- 
rence, bring  their  appropriate  activities.  Dur- 
ing the  busy  harvest  period  the  Camp  takes 
on  an  aspect  of  bustle  which  convinces  the 
traveler  that  this  great  business  republic  has 

215 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

cast  the  word  "manana"  (to-morrow)  for- 
ever from  its  "bright  lexicon  of  youth."  Har- 
vesting machines  cutting  a  swath,  not  four 
or  six,  but  fourteen  feet  in  width  through 
the  wheat  fields,  threshers  with  powerful 
blasts  that  pile  the  straw  in  great  stacks, 
and  on  the  ranches  the  great  armies  of 
horned  cattle  add  the  convincing  touch  to  the 
scene  of  prosperity. 

"A  recent  census,"  says  the  Bulletin  of  the 
Pan  American  Union  (July,  1911),  "shows 
that  in  Argentina  there  are  over  29,000,000 
bovine  cattle,  7,500,000  horses,  about  500,000 
mules  and  300,000  asses,  over  67,000,000 
shee$  almost  4,000,000  goats  and  1,403,591 
pigs,  with  a  total  value  of  about  $700,000,- 
000,  gold.  ...  It  is  an  interesting  fact 
that  all  the  animal  food  so  abundantly  sup- 
plied by  this  country  is  the  result  of  stock- 
ing this  incomparably  rich  land  with  animals 
introduced  from  European  sources.  In  pre- 
Columbian  times  the  only  domestic  animals 
possessed  by  the  natives  were  the  alpaca  and 
llama.  The  alpaca  was  grown  for  its  flesh  and 
its  fleece,  while  the  llama  was  used  as  a  beast 
of  burden.  In  1535  the  Spaniards  brought 
in  horses  and  asses,  and,  shortly  afterward, 

216 


PRIZE    WINNERS    FROM    "THE    CAMP." 


ARGENTINA 

bovine  cattle  were  taken  to  Asuncion  (Para- 
guay) by  a  Portuguese.  In  1569  four  thou- 
sand head  were  distributed  along  the  regions 
of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata.  Sheep  came  later. 
At  one  time,  when  the  natives  were  exceed- 
ingly hostile,  a  few  horses  and  asses  were 
abandoned  on  the  pampas,  and  from  that 
stock  have  descended  the  innumerable  herds 
which  to-day  cover  the  almost  limitless  plains ; 
.  .  .  but  during  recent  years  Argentina 
has  imported  the  best  animals  obtainable  and 
has  bred  with  the  direct  intention  of  improv- 
ing the  stock  as  much  as  possible." 

With  the  cattle  rides  the  gaucho,  the  cow- 
boy of  the  pampas.  Dressed  in  smart  poncho 
(a  sort  of  cape,  with  a  hole  for  the  head  to 
go  through),  and  bright-hued  zombachos,  or 
wide  Turkish  trousers,  tight-fitting  boots, 
and  sombrero,  and  sitting  astride  his  sad- 
dle, richly  ornamented  with  silver,  he  pre- 
sents a  sight  worth  seeing.  To  the  gaucho 
the  Camp  is  indebted  for  its  only  romance 
and  picturesqueness ;  he  has  given  to  it  its 
songs  and  tales  of  adventure,  its  tragedies 
and  the  brightness  of  its  life.  Lithe  and 
graceful,  he  is  a  consummate  horseman  and 
rivals  his  Texan  counterpart  in  feats  of 

217 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

horsemanship  and  skill  with  the  lasso.  He 
is  proud,  simple-minded,  and  faithful  in  his 
friendships,  but  when  aroused  to  anger  by  a 
slight  or  by  deceit,  he  is  as  elemental  in  his 
vengefulness — for  there  is  a  strain  of  the  old 
fierce  Tupi-Guarany  in  the  blood  of  most  of 
them — as  the  early  types  of  his  race  who 
ranged  the  pampas  during  the  so-called  me- 
diaeval period  of  Argentine  history.  Need- 
less to  say,  he  has  contributed  his  quota  in  the 
wars  of  the  republic  and  has  furnished  the 
inspiration  for  many  a  stirring  drama  in  the 
literature  of  the  country. 

The  story  of  the  pampas  and  the  life  and 
habits  of  their  workers  and  of  the  denizens 
nature  has  sent  to  share  in  their  richness,  has 
been  told  by  many  writers  of  our  day,  notably 
by  W.  H.  Koebel,  an  Englishman,  in  his  re- 
cently published  "Modern  Argentina."  It 
is  the  story  of  a  great  country  and  a  great 
business  enterprise  that  is  fast  spreading  its 
activity  farther  and  farther  north,  west,  and 
south — to  the  north,  toward  the  still  savage 
Chaco  country  and  the  mountainous  provinces 
of  Jujuy,  Salta,  and  Catamarca;  to  the  west, 
toward  the  Andean  uplands,  and  southward 
to  the  federal  territories  in  the  region  that 

218 


ARGENTINA 

was  once  referred  to  on  the  maps  as  Pata- 
gonia. Gradually  the  cattle  ranch  is  being 
pushed  farther  afield  to  give  way  to  agricul- 
ture, while  the  ranchmen  in  their  turn  are 
penetrating  the  field  of  the  timber  industry. 
There  is  practically  no  village  life  in  Ar- 
gentina; there  is  no  middle  class  between  the 
lordly  estanciero  and  the  laborer.  The  very 
necessary  element  of  the  small  farmer,  work- 
ing his  own  independent  property,  is  grad- 
ually being  introduced,  as  the  owners  of  the 
great  estates  are  beginning  to  subdivide  their 
holdings.  When  this  new  element  shall  have 
been  thoroughly  absorbed  into  the  common- 
wealth, and  the  nation  shall  have  acquired 
a  "volk,"  the  prosperity  of  Argentina  will 
be  assured  for  all  time.  The  development 
of  the  country  is  still  in  its  infancy;  for 
years  to  come  there  will  be  room  for  an 
increasing  influx  of  capital  and  men  who 
can  take  part  in  the  most  modern  and  great- 
est wealth-producing  enterprise  on  the  globe. 
So  far  the  English  and  Germans  are  the 
chief  among  the  foreign  capitalists  who  have 
sought  out  this  present-day  Eldorado.  The 
better  acquaintance  with  Argentina  and  the 
other  countries  to  the  south  of  us,  so  intel- 

219 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

ligently  and  industriously  fostered  by  the  Pan 
American  Union  at  Washington,  will,  it  is  to 
be  hoped,  induce  a  North  American  financial 
invasion  of  Argentina,  an  invasion  that  will 
be  more  than  welcomed  by  the  "Yankis"  of 
the  South. 

The  traveler  who  takes  the  seven-hundred- 
mile  journey  westward  through  the  Camp, 
luxuriously  housed  in  the  coaches  of  the 
Great  Western  Railroad,  comes  upon  a  dif- 
ferent scene  and  a  different  life  when  he 
reaches  the  ancient  city  of  Mendoza  in  the 
foothills  of  the  Andes.  Here  it  was  that  San 
Martin  recruited  and  organized  his  Army  of 
Liberation,  the  army  with  which,  emerging 
suddenly  from  its  isolated  hiding  place,  he 
startled  the  world  by  his  crossing  of  the 
Andes  to  fall  upon  the  unsuspecting  Span- 
ish. Mendoza  is  now  the  center  of  the  wine 
and  fruit  industry.  It  is  a  thriving,  well- 
supplied  little  city,  with  a  population  of  be- 
tween thirty  and  forty  thousand,  comfortable 
hotels,  a  theater,  and  a  broad  boulevard  of 
its  own,  overhung  with  trees  and  named  for 
the  great  revolutionary  leader,  where  they 
have  their  band  concerts  and  afternoon  car- 
riage parade  just  as  they  do  in  Buenos  Aires. 

220 


ARGENTINA 

Only  here,  in  their  rather  more  dusky  com- 
plexions, lots  of  the  raven-haired,  black-eyed 
occupants  of  the  carriages  show  traces  of  In- 
dian descent. 

The  development  of  the  wine  trade  is  in 
keeping  with  the  phenomenal  progress  of  the 
rest  of  the  country.  Although  the  great  bulk 
of  the  product  is  not  of  the  highest  quality, 
the  presses  turn  out  each  year  enormous 
quantities  that  bear  the  labels  of  Bordeaux, 
Burgundy,  Moselle,  and  Muscatel,  produced 
from  the  very  best  imported  vines.  Other 
fruits  have  been  found  to  grow  equally  well 
in  this  section:  peaches,  pears,  and  plums 
reach  a  high  state  of  culture,  while  apples, 
quinces,  and  cherries  do  very  well.  It  is  the 
boast  of  the  Argentine  that  his  country  is 
capable  of  producing  every  conceivable  kind 
of  fruit,  and  it  is  not  an  idle  boast. 

At  this  point — Mendoza — a  change  of  car 
is  made  to  the  less  comfortable  narrow-gauge 
road  that  takes  the  traveler  through  the 
fastnesses  of  the  Andes.  The  route  leads 
first  through  the  peach  orchards  and  vine- 
yards, with  the  snow  peaks  easily  distin- 
guishable in  the  background.  The  Mendoza 
River,  fed  by  the  melting  snows  on  the  moun- 

221 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

tain  tops,  tumbles  along  its  way  and  is 
crossed  and  re-crossed  many  times  en  route. 
Distant  about  one  hundred  miles,  one  comes 
to  the  Puente  del  Inca,  the  famous  natural 
bridge  spanning  a  chasm  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  in  width,  about  which  are  many  na- 
tive legends  of  Incarial  times,  for  the  bridge 
formed  part  of  the  great  system  of  roads 
built  by  the  Incas.  A  little  farther  on,  mount- 
ing to  a  still  higher  altitude,  the  station  of 
Las  Cuevas  is  reached,  the  last  stop  in  Ar- 
gentine territory,  and  the  entrance  to  the 
tunnel  through  the  mountain,  half  a  mile  be- 
low the  Uspallata  Pass — an  engineering  feat 
deserving  of  a  chapter  by  itself.  The  eleva- 
tion here  is  in  excess  of  ten  thousand  feet, 
and  the  scene  one  of  impressive  grandeur, 
fascinating  in  the  kaleidoscope  of  color  that 
floods  the  gorges  and  the  giant  peaks. 

Above,  at  the  Cumbre,  as  the  pass  at  the 
top  is  called,  if  one  forsakes  the  comforts  of 
the  passenger  coach  for  mule-back,  he  can 
view  the  now  world-famous  "Christ  of  the 
Andes,"  a  bronze  figure  of  the  Prince  of 
Peace  rising  to  a  height  of  twenty-six  feet 
above  its  massive  granite  pedestal.  It  was 
erected  to  commemorate  the  peace  treaty  that 

222 


ARGENTINA 

brought  to  an  end  the  long-continued  dif- 
ferences between  Chile  and  Argentina.  Grow- 
ing out  of  the  boundary  dispute,  this  con- 
troversy had  become  more  and  more  acute  as 
the  long-neglected  Patagonian  territory  in- 
creased in  promise.  The  boundary,  finally 
fixed  in  1902,  by  Sir  Thomas  Holdich's  com- 
mission, runs  along  the  summit  of  the  An- 
dean ridge.  On  the  base  of  the  monument 
a  tablet  bears  the  words:  "Sooner  shall 
these  mountains  crumble  to  dust  than  the 
people  of  Argentina  and  Chile  break  the 
peace  to  which  they  have  pledged  themselves 
at  the  feet  of  Christ  the  Redeemer." 

From  Caracoles,  the  Chilean  terminus  of 
the  tunnel,  the  Transandino-Chileno  carries 
the  traveler  to  the  station  of  Los  Andes. 
From  here  to  the  port  city  of  Valparaiso, 
Chile,  the  route  is  over  the  Chilean  State 
Railroad,  which  is  of  standard  gauge  and 
passes  through  some  rich  and  fertile  valleys 
on  its  way  toward  the  Pacific. 

in 

To  the  east  of  the  Cordilleras,  and  south 
of  the  river  Negro,  stretches  the  territory 

223 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

long  known  as  Patagonia,  first  in  swelling 
plateaux  and  then  flattening  out  into  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  upper  level  pampas.  This 
is  now  the  scene  of  Argentina's  advancing 
sheep  industry.  For  Patagonia,  east  of  the 
Andean  summits,  and  the  east  half  of  Tierra 
del  Fuego  were  awarded  to  Argentina  by 
the  boundary  arbitrator,  King  Edward  VII, 
following  the  report  of  Sir  Thomas  Holdich's 
commission,  and  is  now  divided  into  the  Fed- 
eral Territories  of  Rio  Negro,  Chubut,  and 
Santa  Cruz.  The  land  of  Patagonia,  so 
named  by  the  early  explorers  from  the  big 
feet  (pata  goas)  of  the  Tehuelche  Indians, 
is  now  reached  by  steamer  to  Punta  Arenas 
in  Magellan  Strait,  the  southernmost  city 
on  the  globe,  for  the  railways  of  Argentina 
have  not  yet  penetrated  this  country  to  any 
considerable  extent.  In  climate  it  ranges 
from  the  temperate  to  extreme  cold,  like  that 
of  northern  Michigan  in  the  winter  months. 
From  the  time  of  Darwin,  who  first  took 
the  country  out  of  the  category  of  terras 
incognitas,,  Patagonia  has  lost  most  of  its 
mystery  and  is  now  being  settled  by  the  di- 
verted immigration  from  Buenos  Aires.  The 
Scots,  English,  and  Germans  have  taken  up 


ARGENTINA 

large  allotments  of  land,  and  many  New  Zea- 
land sheep  men  have  come  over  to  add  their 
skill  to  the  leading  industry.  There  are  also 
colonies  of  Boers  and  Jews. 

The  Fuegian  Archipelago,  at  the  south- 
ern extremity  of  South  America,  covers  a 
territory  as  large  as  Nebraska.  A  tortuous, 
wind-swept  labyrinth  of  waterways  separates 
the  hundreds  of  islands  that  constitute  this 
group.  The  largest  is  Tierra  del  Fuego, 
half  as  large  as  Illinois.  It  is  divided  lon- 
gitudinally between  Chile  and  Argentina,  by 
far  the  larger  and  more  valuable  portion  hav- 
ing been  awarded  to  the  former  by  the  Royal 
Arbitrator.  The  name  was  given  to  the  archi- 
pelago by  Magellan,  when  he  saw  the  trails 
of  smoke  from  the  signal  fires  of  the  natives 
who  followed  his  epoch-making  course  through 
the  strait  that  now  bears  his  name.  Very  lit- 
tle of  the  Fuegian  country  is  under  cultiva- 
tion, although  thousands  of  sheep  graze  over 
its  rich  valleys  and  verdant  plains.  The 
southernmost  point,  Cape  Horn  (in  Chilean 
territory),  is  a  monster  rock,  bleak  and  for- 
bidding, against  which  the  antarctic  storms 
beat  with  such  terrific  force  that,  in  the  old 
days  of  sailing  vessels,  it  was  called  the  head- 

225 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

stone  of  the  mariners'  most  populous  grave- 
yard. 

A  vastly  different  scene  awaits  the  traveler 
who  penetrates  into  the  tropical  wilds  of  the 
northern  territories  of  Argentina.  Going 
aboard  one  of  the  fine  steamers  of  Nicholas 
Mihanovitch — the  kings  of  the  river  traffic — 
at  Buenos  Aires,  the  traveler  follows  the 
course  of  the  Parana,  which  is  the  main  water 
highway  of  Argentina.  The  trip  will  take 
him  through  the  richest  provinces  of  the 
Camp,  past  the  busy  miniature  Buenos  Aires, 
the  city  of  Rosario,  which  is  the  port  of 
shipment  for  the  grain  of  this  region,  and 
up  into  the  tropical  scenery  and  mystery  of 
the  Chaco  and  Misiones  territories,  opening 
up  vistas  of  prodigious  natural  growths  and 
riotous  beauty,  differing  in  every  way  from 
the  somber  majesty  of  the  Fuegian  country. 
The  Chaco  and  the  territory  of  Formosa, 
adjoining  it  on  the  north,  are  still  almost 
wholly  occupied  by  uncivilized  Indians.  Up 
to  the  present  time  this  region  has  been  ex- 
ploited chiefly  for  the  wood  of  the  quebracho 
(qui-bra-hacha  —  axe-breaker)  tree,  which 
yields  the  best  quality  of  tannin  and  timber 


ARGENTINA 

for  railroad  ties;  it  is  richer  in  the  former 
product  than  any  other  tree  yet  discovered. 

The  picturesqueness  of  the  Parana  River 
scenery  along  its  upper  courses  has  excited 
enthusiastic  descriptions  from  all  the  trav- 
elers who  have  penetrated  this  marvelous 
country.  A  thousand  miles  up  the  river,  in 
Misiones,  near  the  point  where  Argentina, 
Paraguay,  and  Brazil  meet,  are  located  the 
famous  Iguazii  Falls.  The  great  cascade, 
fifty  feet  higher  and  with  a  lateral  extent 
1250  feet  greater  than  Niagara,  lies  in  the 
midst  of  a  primeval  forest.  The  enormous 
volume  of  water  bursts  through  a  series  of 
thickly  wooded  islands  with  a  roar  that  is  all 
the  more  impressive  to  the  spectator  because 
of  the  solitude  that  reigns  throughout  this 
scantily  populated  region.  The  hand  of  man 
has  done  nothing  here — no  attempt  has  been 
made  to  harness  the  mighty  power;  nature 
has  been  left  alone  to  revel  in  utter  abandon. 


227 


t 

IV 

URUGUAY 

ONE  of  the  first  inquiries  that  engages 
the  mind  of  the  visitor  to  Uruguay 
and  Argentina  is  why  the  great  body 
of  water  that  separates  the  two  countries — 
apparently  an  arm  of  the  sea — should  not  be 
called  the  Gulf  of  La  Plata.  After  a  brief 
stay  in  this  region  of  great  cities,  great  pro- 
ductiveness, and  great  opportunities,  it  will 
probably  occur  to  him  that  dwellers  among 
such  great  things  could  be  satisfied  with  noth- 
ing less  than  an  estuary  of  the  broad  Atlan- 
tic to  serve  as  a  river  for  their  capitals.  If 
the  Parana  and  Uruguay — mighty  rivers 
which  rank  in  size  immediately  behind  the 
Mississippi — had  joined  their  floods  some 
miles  above  Buenos  Aires,  instead  of  flowing 
separately  into  La  Plata,  a  stream  of  un- 
questionable status  might  have  satisfied  their 
demands ;  but  the.  God  of  Waters  willed  oth- 
erwise, evidently  not  anticipating  the  great- 

228 


URUGUAY 

ness  of  these  people  and  their  illimitable  am- 
bition. 

The  exact  point  at  which  La  Plata  River 
merges  with  the  Atlantic  is  also  a  matter  of 
speculation  among  geographers.  For  all 
practical  purposes,  however,  Montevideo,  the 
capital,  metropolis,  and  chief  port  of  Uru- 
guay, lies  just  beside  this  phenomenon.  One 
can  say,  therefore,  that  the  eastern  side  of  the 
little  peninsula  on  which  the  main  city  is  built 
faces  the  ocean,  while  the  southern  and  west- 
ern fronts,  bordering  the  bay  of  the  actual 
port,  look  upon  the  river  Plata. 

Taking  the  night  boat  at  Buenos  Aires, 
one  arrives  in  Montevideo  in  the  early  morn- 
ing after  a  pleasant  ride  of  just  a  hundred 
miles  diagonally  across  the  river,  and  is  im- 
mediately impressed  with  the  picturesqueness 
of  El  Cerro,  an  ancient  fortress  that  still 
poses  as  the  guardian  of  the  entrance  of  the 
river.  Much  more  important  to-day,  how- 
ever, is  the  lighthouse  that  rises  from  this 
height.  Entering  the  port  the  visitor  comes 
upon  a  modern  city  of  almost  four  hundred 
thousand  inhabitants,  possessed  of  all  the  at- 
tributes of  the  present-day  metropolis;  an 
adequate  and  up-to-date  system  of  docks, 

229 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

fine  business  blocks,  public  buildings,  plazas, 
boulevards,  and  broad  streets  laid  out  on  the 
checkerboard  scheme,  sewer,  water,  and  light- 
ing systems,  and  extensive  and  well-managed 
electric  tramway  lines. 

To  the  Buenos  Airean,  naturally  enough, 
Montevideo  is  a  second  Brooklyn,  for  the 
"ferry"  trip  of  a  hundred  miles  is  not  in- 
congruous where  people  think  in  superla- 
tives. Here  the  Buenos  Airean  may  come, 
after  a  period  of  consuming  activity  in  his 
own  more  closely  built  city,  for  rest  and  soul 
expansion  among  the  leisurely  and  dignified 
Montevideans,  and,  at  the  expense  of  his 
neighbor,  even  permit  himself  a  bit  of  friendly 
chaff  in  which  he  might  venture  to  use  the 
word  "soporific."  The  Montevidean  by  no 
means  resents  the  imputation.  There  is  no 
resentment  because,  although  a  restful  at- 
mosphere does  pervade  the  city,  there  is  not 
the  slightest  taint  of  stagnation.  The  Mon- 
tevidean is  conscious  that  his  sturdy,  vig- 
orous, and  even  bellicose  race  has  built  up  a 
nation  unique  in  South  America  in  its  prom- 
ise of  material  prosperity;  that  his  country 
is  among  the  richest  in  the  quality  and  varied 
productiveness  of  its  soil  of  any  on  the  con- 

260 


URUGUAY 

tinent,  and  that  his  city,  housing  a  third  of 
the  country's  population,  is  the  pivot  of  the 
nation's  astonishing  commercial  activity  and 
one  of  the  most  healthful  and  delightful  res- 
idence cities  in  the  world. 

Montevideo  was  founded  in  1726,  but  re- 
mained a  comparatively  unimportant  way  sta- 
tion until  some  thirty  years  ago,  when  it 
began  to  imbibe  the  modernism  of  its  big 
rivals  in  Brazil  and  Argentina.  To-day  it  is 
almost  as  cosmopolitan  as  Buenos  Aires,  the 
Italian  element  predominating  among  the 
foreigners,  with  the  British  preeminent  as 
investors  of  capital,  as  in  the  latter  city.  To 
the  superb  Solis  Theater  come  all  the  Euro- 
pean companies  that  appear  in  Buenos  Aires; 
club  life  is  best  represented  in  the  Club  Uru- 
guay and  the  English  Club,  situated  on  oppo- 
site sides  of  the  Plaza  Matriz;  and  afternoon 
tea  has  come  to  be  an  important  feature  of  the 
social  life,  several  tea  houses  being  now  dis- 
tributed over  the  leisure  sections  of  the  city. 

The  pride  of  the  Montevidean  is  Prado 
Park.  He  has  made  of  it  one  of  the  fairest 
gardens  imaginable — its  lakes  and  rolling 
lawns  and  great  variety  of  trees  and  flower- 
ing bushes,  its  intersecting  avenues  of  tow- 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

ering  eucalyptus  trees  rivaling  Japan's  fa- 
mous avenue  of  cryptomerias,  on  the  road  to 
Nikko,  all  give  pleasure  to  the  city's  thou- 
sands, who,  like  Parisians,  seek  the  country 
scenes  for  their  holiday  amusements.  Driving 
along  Agraciado  Road  and  other  plane-tree- 
shaded  avenues,  the  visitor  reaches  either  of 
the  pleasure  suburbs  of  Colon  or  Pocitos. 

In  these  excursions  he  has  an  excellent  op- 
portunity to  note  the  varied  styles  of  architec- 
ture coming  into  vogue  in  the  more  progres- 
sive cities  of  South  America;  they  range  from 
the  comfortable  bungalow  of  the  British  resi- 
dents, to  that  strange  development  of  the 
old  Spanish  home  (the  quinta)  in  which  the 
wealthy  Spanish- Americans  love  to  house 
themselves  on  the  outskirts  of  the  cities.  Un- 
til recent  years  the  Spanish  house  in  town 
and  country  was  bare  and  unlovely  on  the 
outside;  its  beauty  and  richness  were  con- 
fined to  the  interior  surroundings  of  the 
patio,,  where,  in  feudal  privacy,  the  family 
secluded  itself.  To-day,  in  the  new  era  of 
civic  pride  and  the  freer  association  of  society 
in  the  modern  boulevard  and  cafe  life,  the 
adornment  is  extended  to  the  outside,  and 
the  effort  made,  by  the  addition  of  pinnacles 


SOLIS    THEATER,    MONTEVIDEO. 


CAGANCHA    PLAZA.    MONTEVIDEO. 


URUGUAY 

and  towers  and  much  delicate  tinting,  to  add 
to  the  attractiveness  of  the  "city  beautiful." 
In  the  business  sections,  of  course,  the  mod- 
ern architecture  corresponds  for  the  most 
part  with  the  type  seen  in  the  great  cities  of 
Europe  and  North  America. 

In  October,  when  the  summer  comes  into 
these  latitudes  south  of  the  Equator,  the 
quintas  assume  a  most  entrancing  aspect. 
Some  of  them,  set  in  the  midst  of  gardens 
many  acres  in  extent,  are  veritable  haunts  of 
delight.  Toll  has  been  levied  upon  every 
resource  to  add  to  their  charm.  The  gardens 
are  inclosed  within  hedges  that  blaze  with 
the  color  of  the  hedge-rose,  honeysuckle, 
bougainvillea,  wistaria,  and  other  creeping 
vines.  Inside,  forming  a  background,  may 
be  seen  a  goodly  growth  of  ivy-covered  oaks 
or  chestnut  trees.  Within,  nearer  the  fairy- 
like  home,  and  in  the  random  of  artistic  dis- 
order, are  many  flowering  bushes  and  trees — 
lilacs  mingling  their  scent  with  magnolia, 
orange,  myrtle,  and  mimosa — while  the  lawns 
are  carpeted  with  a  brilliant  profusion  of 
periwinkles,  pansies,  marigolds,  arum  lilies, 
and  carnations,  the  whole  yielding  up  the  de- 
lights of  its  ever  changing  fragrance  as  the 

233 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

wondering  guest  wanders  about  in  company 
with  his  courtly  host  and  hostess. 

In  entire  harmony  with  this  perfection  of 
nature  is  the  beauty  of  the  women.  They  are 
justly  famous.  To  the  far-famed  grace  and 
natural  Spanish  stateliness  of  her  sisters 
throughout  South  America,  the  Uruguayan 
senorita  adds  a  freshness  of  complexion  and 
sprightliness  of  temperament  that  go  to  make 
a  most  bewitching  consummation  of  feminine 
charm.  Her  praises  are  sung  by  all  visitors; 
not  less  appreciative,  her  own  kith  and  kin 
liken  her,  in  their  poetic  way,  to  all  pleasant 
things  from  a  dove  to  the  moon. 

It  is  with  genuine  regret  that  the  traveler 
leaves  the  hospitable  capital  for  a  trip 
through  the  country;  but  he  will  soon  dis- 
cover that  the  delightful  climate  (like  that  of 
Tennessee,  but  without  the  snows  of  winter) 
is  characteristic  of  Uruguay  as  a  whole. 
From  the  capital  radiate  some  fifteen  hun- 
dred miles  of  good  railways  penetrating  Bra- 
zil at  several  points,  and  also  tapping  the 
commerce  along  the  Uruguay  River. 

The  country  he  will  see  is  one  great  roll- 
ing pasture  as  large  as  all  New  England, 
and  with  occasional  ridges  of  mountains. 

234 


URUGUAY 

None  of  these,  however,  exceeds  two  thou- 
sand feet  in  height.  Until  recently  Uruguay 
was  given  over  almost  entirely  to  the  raising 
of  cattle  and  sheep;  now  it  promises  great 
strides  in  products  of  the  soil.  Indeed,  it  is 
the  boast  of  the  Uruguayan  that  not  an  acre 
of  his  country's  72,000  square  miles  of  terri- 
tory is  unproductive.  Here  can  be  seen 
growing  corn,  wheat,  and  potatoes,  and  a 
great  impetus  has  of  late  been  given  to  viti- 
culture— and  there  is  no  fear  of  either  drought 
or  frost.  So  far,  however,  only  about  three 
per  cent,  of  the  territory  is  under  cultivation 
in  foodstuffs.  In  1909  Montevideo  handled 
imports  to  the  value  of  $35,000,000  and  ex- 
ports amounting  to  $32,000,000,  while  the 
ports  of  Rocha,  Maldonado,  and  Colonia,  on 
the  south  coast,  and  Salto,  Paysandu,  Fray 
Bentos,  Mercedes,  and  others  on  the  Uruguay, 
handled  three  millions  more  of  imports  and 
exports.  Her  production  in  cattle  in  that 
year  amounted  to  6,827,428,  in  sheep  16,- 
608,717,  and  in  pigs,  horses,  mules,  and  goats 
700,000. 

At  Fray  Bentos,  on  the  Uruguay  River, 
the  Liebig  Company  has  located  a  great 
plant,  slaughters  over  three  hundred  thousand 

285 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

head  of  cattle  a  year,  and  does  an  enormous 
business  in  extract  of  beef,  canned  meats, 
hides,  tallow,  hair,  horn,  and  other  by- 
products. A  day's  sojourn  in  the  prosper- 
ous, if  soup-laden,  atmosphere  will  give  one 
a  proper  appreciation  of  the  rest  of  the 
country,  for  nowhere  has  Nature  been  more 
lavish  with  her  favors,  nowhere  has  she  dis- 
tributed more  favorable  conditions  for  life  and 
national  prosperity — everything  man  needs 
for  food  or  clothing  is  here  capable  of  being 
raised.  Every  section  is  reached  by  nav- 
igable rivers,  which  also  furnish  abundant 
water  for  irrigation  and  mechanical  purposes. 
The  country  being  on  a  gold  basis,  its  credit 
in  the  European  money  markets  is  excellent. 
Uruguay,  as  one  historian  expresses  it,  has 
always  been  the  cockpit  of  the  southern  half 
of  the  continent.  From  the  time  of  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  first  whites  in  the  Plata 
region — Diaz  de  Solis  in  1515,  and  ten  years 
later  Sebastien  Cabot — down  to  the  period 
of  Hernando  Arias  and  Garay,  who,  in  about 
1580,  permanently  established  the  power  of 
Spain  on  the  river  Plata,  the  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  settlements  on  the  Plata  and 
Uruguay  had  to  contend  with  the  incessant 

236 


URUGUAY 

hostilities  of  a  race  of  Indians — the  Charruas, 
who,  next  to  the  Araucanians  of  Chile,  had 
the  distinction  of  offering  the  most  vigorous 
and  successful  opposition  to  the  dominion  of 
the  Europeans  in  South  America. 

Throughout  the  colonial  regime,  Uruguay 
constituted  the  eastern  border  province  (Ban- 
da  Oriental)  of  Spain's  La  Plata  colony, 
and  was  the  storm  center  of  the  Spanish 
and  Portuguese  strife  for  territorial  control. 
Following  this  period  came  the  abortive  in- 
vasion of  the  English  in  1806,  and,  a  few 
years  later,  the  wars  of  independence.  When 
Spanish  rule  came  to  an  end  in  the  Plata 
country,  the  Banda  Oriental  became  the  bone 
of  contention  between  Brazil  and  the  newly 
born  state  that  is  now  Argentina — a  veritable 
new-world  Flanders  and  the  theater  of  many 
fierce  battles.  Brazil  held  the  province  from 
1817  to  1829,  and  called  it  her  Cis-platine 
Province.  Finally,  on  May  1,  1829,  Uru- 
guay achieved  her  independence  and  set  up 
a  government  of  her  own  under  the  style  of 
the  Oriental  Republic  of  Uruguay. 

There  is  good  reason,  then,  why  the  Uru- 
guayans should  have  emerged  from  these 
three  hundred  years  of  turbulent  character 

237 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

building  into  independence  with  a  bellicose 
personality  exactly  suited  to  the  Montague- 
and-Capulet  existence  that  prevails  in  her 
politics  between  the  Blancos,  or  reactionists, 
and  the  Colorados,  who  now  hold  the  political 
power  and  stand  for  progress.  The  force- 
fulness  of  the  nation  is  now  finding  its  ex- 
pression in  industrial  and  commercial  enter- 
prises and  has  made  of  her  chief  port  a  pow- 
erful commercial  rival  of  the  busy  mart  across 
the  Plata. 


238 


V 

PARAGUAY 

PARAGUAY  is  in  the  longitudinal  cen- 
ter of  South  America,  and,  with  the 
exception  of  Bolivia,  is  the  only  coun- 
try on  the  continent  that  does  not  border  on 
the  sea.  Next  to  Uruguay  it  is  the  smallest 
of  the  South  American  republics,  possessing 
a  territory  of  196,000  square  miles.  Until 
the  break  with  Spain,  in  1813,  it  was,  like 
Uruguay,  part  and  parcel  of  La  Plata  col- 
ony, under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Viceroy 
of  Buenos  Aires,  and  was  known  as  the 
Province  of  Paraguay.  As  will  be  observed 
from  a  glance  at  the  map,  it  is  hedged  in  by 
Bolivia,  Brazil,  and  Argentina,  and  is  sepa- 
rated from  its  twin  sister,  Uruguay,  by  an 
arm  of  the  mother  country  (Misiones  Ter- 
ritory) that  reaches  up  into  Brazil  between 
the  Parana  and  Uruguay  rivers. 

For  a  proper  acquaintance  with  the  coun- 
try it  must  be  conceived  as  a  dual  personality, 

239 


THROUGH   SOUTH   AMERICA 

for  it  is  divided  longitudinally  by  the  river 
Paraguay  into  western  Paraguay,  or  the 
Chaco,  and  eastern  Paraguay,  or  Paraguay 
proper.  It  is  in  the  latter  region  that  the 
republic  has  its  being  and  in  which  the  vis- 
itor's interest  is  naturally  centered.  El 
Chaco  is  a  vast,  thickly  wooded,  and,  for  the 
most  part,  savage  and  unexplored  section 
that  was  awarded  to  Paraguay  by  our  Presi- 
dent Hayes  as  arbitrator  of  its  boundary 
dispute  with  Argentina ;  in  gratitude  the  gov- 
ernment named  the  chief  settlement  in  the 
territory  Villa  Hayes.  The  region  is  now 
given  over  almost  wholly  to  the  immigrant 
Swiss,  German,  Italian  and  other  communi- 
ties that  have  been  started  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  river,  and  to  nomadic  bands  of  still 
uncivilized  Indians. 

With  a  climate  similar  to  that  of  southern 
California,  Paraguay,  throughout  its  entire 
extent,  is  blessed  with  abundant  rain  the 
year  round.  It  is  well  watered  and  quite 
thickly  wooded,  and  thus  protected  from  the 
intense  heat  usual  in  low-lying  countries. 

Eastern  Paraguay  resembles  Uruguay  in 
its  rolling,  fertile  areas,  but  is  more  moun- 
tainous. On  the  northern  frontier  is  the 

240 


PARAGUAY 

range  known  as  the  Quinze  Punt  as.  In- 
closing the  country  on  the  east  are  the  Cor- 
dilleras of  Amambay  and  Mbaracayii,  while 
down  the  center,  from  north  to  south,  run 
a  broken  series  of  lesser  sierras  and  the  range 
called  Caaguazu,  forming  a  ridge  or  backbone 
that  subdivides  this  half  of  Paraguay  into 
the  two  great  basins  drained  by  the  Parana 
River  on  the  east  and  the  Paraguay  on  the 
west. 

Almost  the  whole  of  Paraguay  proper  has 
forests  of  valuable  woods  with  occasional 
clear  places,  where  settlers  have  made  serv- 
iceable the  marvelous  fertility  and  luxuriance 
of  the  soil.  For  centuries  this  region  has 
been  the  barrier  between  the  two  distinct 
phases  of  Spanish  civilization  in  South  Amer- 
ica— the  golden  empire  of  Peru  and  the 
agricultural  colonies  on  the  Plata  and  its 
tributaries — just  as  Uruguay  has  been  the 
buffer  state  between  the  Portuguese  and 
Spanish  peoples.  These  phases  have  merged 
but  little  and  to-day  present  a  most  interest- 
ing contrast. 

From  the  time  of  Cabot's  fortified  settle- 
ment of  Asuncion  (now  the  capital  of  Para- 
guay) at  the  junction  of  the  Paraguay  and 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Pilcomayo  rivers,  in  1536,  whence  his  lieu- 
tenant, Domingo  Irala,  made  his  vain  attempt 
to  penetrate  into  Peru,  down  to  the  present, 
Paraguay  has  been  isolated  to  a  considerable 
degree  from  the  march  of  progress.  The  six 
hundred  adventurers  who  followed  the  for- 
tunes of  Irala  stayed  on  the  land,  inter- 
married with  the  Guarany  Indians  and  bred 
the  mixed  race  that  was  the  foundation  of  the 
nation  of  to-day;  and  the  Indians  developed, 
along  with  the  mestizos,  to  a  status  unique  in 
South  America.  Evading  the  abject  slavery 
that  decimated  the  aboriginal  races  through- 
out the  Andean  region,  the  Guaranies  were 
taught  the  arts  of  the  soil  and  war  by  the 
Jesuits,  and,  during  the  hundred  and  fifty 
years  of  the  latter's  sway,  achieved  a  stage  of 
development  corresponding  to  that  of  the 
peasantry  of  France. 

The  story  of  the  Jesuit  missions  which  oc- 
cupied the  Parana  basin,  is  an  important  and 
thrilling  chapter  in  Latin- American  history. 
Early  in  its  life,  the  Society  turned  its  at- 
tention to  the  evangelization  of  South 
America;  it  was  the  genius  of  its  founder, 
Ignatius  Loyola,  that  perfected  the  organi- 
zation to  accomplish  this.  In  1550  the  Jesuit 


GOVERNMENT    PALACE,    ASUNCION. 


VIEW    OF    ASUNCION    AND    RIVER    PARAGUAY    FROM    ROOF   OF   THE   CENTRAL 
RAILROAD    STATION. 


PARAGUAY 

Fathers  began  their  work  on  the  Brazilian 
coast  settlements,  but  were  driven  farther 
and  farther  inland  by  the  Portuguese  as  it 
became  apparent  that  their  policy  of  educa- 
tion and  uplift  would  put  an  end  to  the 
enslavement  of  the  natives  which  was  the 
basis  of  the  economic  scheme  of  the  colonists. 
Eventually,  some  time  about  1586,  the  Jesuits 
entered  the  Paraguay  region,  won  the  con- 
fidence of  the  Guaranies  and  purposed  to 
"reduce"  the  tribes  of  the  whole  Plata  coun- 
try. They  met  with  the  same  opposition 
from  the  Spanish  colonists  and  their  strong- 
hold became  restricted  to  the  secluded  and 
isolated  region  mentioned — the  Parana  basin 
and  Misiones  territory  of  Argentina. 

Here,  for  over  a  hundred  years,  under  the 
protection  of  the  official  sanction  won  from 
the  Spanish  King,  Philip  III,  they  worked 
among  their  proselytes.  They  learned  and 
perfected  the  native  dialects;  taught  the  men 
to  cultivate  the  soil,  and  the  women  to  spin 
and  weave  cotton;  induced  them  to  clear 
the  forests  and  to  build  and  live  in  towns, 
and  even  organized  them  into  an  effective 
militia,  which  more  than  once  enabled  them 
to  preserve  the  integrity  of  the  remarkable 

243 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

state — a  state  unique  in  a  way,  since  it  was 
virtually  under  the  direct  control  of  the  Gen- 
eral of  the  Order,  although  within  the  terri- 
torial sovereignty  of  Spain.  This  "republic" 
lasted  until  1769,  when  the  famous  decree  of 
the  King  of  Spain  banished  the  Jesuits  from 
all  his  dominions;  but  the  effects  of  their 
presence  are  still  noticeable  throughout  Para- 
guay and  Misiones. 

It  is  a  matter  of  wonder  to  this  day  how  the 
Jesuit  Fathers,  even  taking  into  consideration 
their  unquenchable  zeal  and  marvelous  energy 
and  determination,  ever  succeeded  in  reach- 
ing so  isolated  a  territory  and  in  traversing 
it  in  every  direction,  as  they  did,  in  pursuit 
of  their  campaign.  Even  to-day  it  is  well- 
nigh  impossible  to  reach  the  heart  of  the 
region — the  great  cataract  of  Guayra,  which, 
hundreds  of  miles  from  the  habitations  of 
man,  isolated  by  jagged  mountains,  fiercely 
swirling  waters  and  the  wild  tangle  of  under- 
brush that  make  headway  through  the  awe- 
some tropical  forest  very  difficult,  constitutes 
one  of  the  most  majestic  of  nature's  wonder- 
works in  South  America.  Situated  about  a 
hundred  miles  up  the  Parana  River  from  the 
better  known  Iguazii  Falls,  the  Guayra  cata- 

244 


PARAGUAY 

ract  lies  on  the  frontier  with  Brazil.  A  vol- 
ume of  water  twice  as  large  as  that  which 
thunders  over  Niagara  is  forced  through  a 
gorge  two  hundred  feet  wide  from  a  stream 
two  and  a  half  miles  in  width.  The  roar  of 
its  plunge  of  fifty-six  feet  to  the  lower  levels, 
adds  the  essential  note  to  this  tremendous 
symphony  of  primeval  nature.  Outside  the 
Arctic  regions,  one  explorer  declares,  no  part 
of  the  world  is  less  accessible  than  the  Parana 
above  the  Great  Cataract. 

After  the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits  the 
Parana  basin  reverted  to  forest  and  the 
nation  pursued  its  checkered  career  in  the 
section  drained  by  the  Paraguay.  This  river 
intersects  the  republic  from  north  to  south 
and  is  navigable  through  its  entire  course  by 
ocean  steamers,  which  pass  up  from  Buenos 
Aires  through  the  Parana,  and  past  Corri- 
entes,  where  the  two  great  streams  join 
forces. 

On  the  left  bank  of  the  Paraguay,  at  the 
point  of  its  confluence  with  the  equally  great 
Pilcomayo,  the  traveler  comes  to  the  ancient 
city  of  Asuncion,  the  capital  of  the  country. 
Here  was  the  seat  of  the  colonial  authority 
over  Plata  settlements  until  Buenos  Aires 

245 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

grew  into  importance.  It  has  a  population 
of  52,000,  and  is  now  thriving  and  prosperous, 
rapidly  taking  on  the  cosmopolitanism  that 
characterizes  the  other  ports  of  South 
America.  The  capital,  and  indeed  the  whole 
country  has  but  recently  entered  into  a  new 
life,  a  life  as  sharply  contrasted  with  its  period 
of  political  storm  and  stress  as  the  transition 
was  sudden. 

For,  during  the  first  sixty  years  after  the 
country  had  attained  its  freedom  from  Spain, 
Paraguay's  progress  was  stifled  by  a  succes- 
sion of  tyrants — remarkable  men,  all  three  of 
them,  but  men  who,  as  a  result  of  their  rule, 
well-nigh  cost  her  her  national  existence.  The 
first  of  these,  Dr.  Jose  Rodriguez  Gaspar 
Francia,  had  been  the  dominating  figure  in 
the  revolutionary  junta,  and  afterward,  with 
his  confrere,  General  Yegros,  had  been  ap- 
pointed Consul  and  invested  with  the  supreme 
power.  "He  was  a  lawyer,"  Dawson  tells 
us,  "who  had  become  a  sort  of  demigod  to 
the  lower  classes  by  his  fearless  advocacy  of 
their  rights,  and  inspired  almost  superstitious 
reverence  by  his  reputation  for  learning  and 
disinterestedness."  A  year  later,  the  historian 
continues — 

246 


PARAGUAY 

"He  forced  Yegros  out,  and,  with  general  consent, 
assumed  the  position  of  sole  executive,  and,  in  1816, 
was  formally  declared  supreme  and  perpetual  dicta- 
tor. For  the  next  twenty-five  years  he  was  the  gov- 
ernment of  Paraguay.  History  does  not  record 
another  instance  in  which  a  single  man  so  dominated 
and  controlled  a  people.  A  solitary,  mysterious  fig- 
ure, of  whose  thoughts,  purposes,  and  real  character 
little  is  known,  the  worst  acts  of  his  life  were  the  most 
picturesque  and  alone  have  been  recorded.  Although 
the  great  Carlyle  includes  him  among  the  heroes 
whose  memory  mankind  should  worship,  the  opinion 
of  his  detractors  is  likely  to  triumph.  Francia  will 
go  down  to  history  as  a  bloody-minded,  implacable 
despot,  whose  influences  and  purposes  were  wholly 
evil.  After  reading  all  that  has  been  written  about 
this  singular  character,  my  mind  inclines  more  to 
the  judgment  of  Carlyle.  I  feel  that  the  vivid  imagi- 
nation of  the  great  Scotchman  has  pierced  the  clouds 
which  enshrouded  the  spirit  of  a  great  and  lonely 
man,  and  has  seen  the  soul  of  Francia  as  he  was. 
Cruel,  suspicious,  ruthless,  heartless  as  he  undeniably 
became,  his  acts  will  not  bear  the  interpretation  that 
his  purposes  were  selfish  or  that  he  was  animated  by 
mere  vulgar  ambition.  .  .  . 

"He  absorbed  in  his  own  person  all  the  functions  of 
government;  he  had  no  confidants  and  no  assistants; 
he  allowed  no  Paraguayan  to  approach  him  on  terms 
of  equality.  When  he  died,  a  careful  search  failed 
to  reveal  any  records  of  the  immense  amount  of 
governmental  business  he  had  transacted  during 
thirty  years.  The  orders  for  executions  were  simply 
messages  signed  by  him  and  returned  to  be  destroyed 
as  soon  as  they  had  been  carried  out.  The  longer 

247 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

he  lived,  the  more  completely  did  he  apply  his  system 
of  absolutism,  the  more  confident  he  became  that  he 
alone  could  govern  the  people  for  their  good.  He 
adopted  a  policy  of  commercial  isolation,  and  inter- 
course with  the  outside  world  was  absolutely  for- 
bidden. He  neither  sent  nor  received  consuls  nor 
ministers  to  foreign  nations.  Foreign  vessels  were 
excluded  from  the  Paraguay  River  and  allowed  to 
visit  only  one  port  in  the  southeastern  corner  of  the 
country.  He  was  the  sole  foreign  merchant.  The 
communistic  system  inherited  from  the  Jesuits  was 
developed  and  extended  to  the  secular  parts  of  the 
country.  .  .  .  Dreading  interference  by  Spain, 
Brazil,  or  Buenos  Aires,  he  improved  the  military 
forces  and  began  the  organization  of  the  whole  popu- 
lation into  a  militia.  His  policy,  however,  was  peace- 
ful. .  .  . 

"As  he  grew  older  he  became  more  solitary  and 
ferocious.  Always  a  gloomy  and  peculiar  man,  ab- 
sorbed in  his  studies  and  making  no  account  of  the 
ordinary  pleasures  and  interests  of  mankind,  he  had 
reached  the  age  of  fifty-five  and  assumed  supreme 
power  without  marrying.  .  .  .  His  severities  against 
the  educated  classes  increased ;  he  ordered  wholesale 
executions  and  seven  hundred  political  prisoners  filled 
the  jails  when  he  died.  He  feared  assassination  and 
occupied  several  houses,  letting  no  one  know  where 
he  was  going  to  sleep  from  one  night  to  another,  and, 
when  walking  the  streets,  kept  his  guards  at  a  dis- 
tance before  and  behind  him.  Woe  to  the  enemy  or 
suspect  who  attracted  his  attention !  Such  was  the 
terror  inspired  by  this  dreadful  old  man  that  the  news 
that  he  was  out  would  clear  the  streets.  A  white 
Paraguayan  literally  dared  not  utter  his  name.  Dur- 

248 


PARAGUAY 

ing  his  lifetime  he  was  'El  Supremo,'  and,  after  he 
was  dead,  for  generations  he  was  referred  to  simply 
as  'El  Defunto.'  .  .  .  He  did  not  rise  by  any 
sycophantic  arts.  Indeed,  he  never  veiled  the  con- 
tempt he  felt  for  the  party  schemers  and  officials 
around  him.  When  he  had  supreme  power  in  his 
hands,  he  used  it  for  no  selfish  indulgences.  His  life 
was  austere  and  abstemious;  but,  though  parsimo- 
nious for  himself,  he  was  lavish  for  the  public.  .  .  . 
In  his  manners  and  life,  he  was  absolutely  modest ;  he 
received  any  one  who  chose  to  see  him.  If  he  was 
terrible,  it  was  to  the  wealthy  and  powerful;  the 
humblest  Indian  received  a  hearing  and  justice.  Dur- 
ing his  reign  Paraguay  remained  undisturbed, 
wrapped  in  a  profound  peace ;  the  population  rapidly 
increased,  and,  though  commerce  and  manufactures 
did  not  flourish,  nor  the  new  ideas  that  were  trans- 
forming the  face  of  the  civilized  world  penetrate, 
food  and  clothing  were  plentiful  and  cheap  and  the 
Paraguayans  prospered  in  their  own  humble  fashion." 

Following  the  reign  of  Francia  came  a  long 
period  of  open  intercourse  with  the  neighbor- 
ing states  and  foreign  countries  under  the 
dictatorship  of  Carlos  Antonio  Lopez,  and 
some  measure  of  progress  was  made,  but  still 
there  was  no  development  of  republican  insti- 
tutions. His  death  made  room  for  his  son 
Francisco,  who  was  a  man  of  thirty-five  at  the 
time  of  his  accession,  and,  having  spent  some 
time  in  Europe,  had  returned  permeated  with 

249 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

the  vices  of  the  great  capitals  and  a  consum- 
ing ambition  for  military  renown.  A  very 
different  character  of  man  morally,  he  is  said 
to  have  been,  from  the  first  of  his  line.  He 
is  described  as  vain,  licentious,  gluttonous,  and 
unscrupulous  to  the  last  degree,  though  good- 
looking  and  an  eloquent  speaker.  "He  began 
his  reign  like  a  Mohammedan  sultan,"  says 
Dawson,  "ridding  himself  of  his  father's  most 
trusted  counselors,  imprisoning  and  execu- 
ting the  most  intelligent  and  powerful  citizens. 
.  .  .  He  ordered  his  best  friends  to  execution ; 
he  tortured  his  mother  and  sisters  and  mur- 
dered his  brothers.  The  only  natural  affec- 
tion he  ever  evinced  was  a  fondness  for  a 
woman  he  had  picked  up  in  Paris,  and  for  her 
children.  He  seems  to  have  treated  her  well 
to  the  last,  but  his  numerous  other  mistresses 
and  their  children  he  heartlessly  abandoned." 
He  soon  raised  an  army  of  more  than 
eighty  thousand,  the  largest  that  had  ever 
been  assembled  since  the  conquest,  and,  by 
assuming  the  aggressive  in  certain  boundary 
disputes  with  Brazil  and  Argentina  and  inter- 
fering in  civil  disturbances  that  were  going 
on  in  Uruguay,  involved  the  country  in  war 
with  these  three  powers,  which,  alarmed  at 

250 


PARAGUAY 

his  Napoleonic  aspirations,  promptly  formed 
an  alliance  for  the  purpose  of  resisting  him. 
This  war  lasted  five  years  and  for  Paraguay 
was  one  long  succession  of  appalling  disasters. 
Before  the  first  battle  was  fought  her  popu- 
lation numbered  more  than  1,300,000;  when 
Lopez  was  finally  defeated  and  killed  in  1870, 
but  221,079  remained,  of  whom  only  28,746 
were  men.  "No  modern  nation  has  ever  come 
so  near  to  complete  annihilation,"  says  Daw- 
son.  "Not  less  than  225,000  Paraguayan  men 
— the  fathers  and  bread-winners,  the  farmers 
and  laborers — had  perished  in  battle,  by  dis- 
ease or  exposure  or  starvation.  One  hundred 
thousand  adult  women  had  died  of  hardship 
and  hunger,  and  there  were  less  than  90,000 
children  under  fifteen  in  the  country.  The 
surviving  women  outnumbered  the  men  five 
to  one;  .  .  .  but  the  integrity  of  Paraguay 
and  her  continuance  as  an  independent  power 
had  been  mutually  guaranteed  by  Brazil  and 
Argentina  when  they  began  the  war  against 
Lopez,  and  neither  of  them  could  afford  to 
let  the  other  take  possession  of  her  territory, 
so  the  country  was  left  substantially  intact." 
Asuncion  shows  on  its  face  the  two  phases — 
the  modern  business  houses,  residences  and 

251 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

public  service  improvements  of  the  new  era, 
and  the  ruined  districts  and  wrecks  such  as 
those  of  cathedral,  presidential  palace  and  old 
public  buildings  that  emphasize  the  lessons 
of  the  old.  To-day  the  visitor  looks  with  a 
shudder  at  the  ruins  of  the  uncompleted 
mausoleum  in  which  the  last  tyrant  expected 
his  remains  to  rest  and  at  the  two-million- 
dollar  palace  where,  in  rooms  hung  with  rare 
laces  and  crimson  satin,  his  unspeakable  orgies 
were  held;  he  turns  with  relief  toward  the 
modernism  now  beginning  to  be  apparent 
which  proves  the  substantial  worth  of  a 
people  which  can  arise  from  such  a  past  and 
prosper.  The  survivors  of  the  old  regime 
have  been  severely  tested  for  fitness  to  enjoy 
the  fruits  of  their  well-favored  country. 

The  republic — no  longer  such  in  name 
only — is  governed  under  an  enlightened  con- 
stitution modeled  after  our  own.  The  present 
administration  has  opened  wide  the  doors  to 
immigration  and  foreign  capital,  and  the  arti- 
ficial barrier  erected  by  her  political  system  of 
the  nineteenth  century  no  longer  exists  as  the 
complement  to  the  natural  barriers  that  have 
stood  for  four  centuries  between  the  northern 
and  southern  countries  of  South  America. 

252 


PARAGUAY 

Those  who  may  be  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain 
control  of  Paraguay's  highways,  the  Para- 
guay and  Pilcomayo,  and  supplement  them 
by  extending  its  155  miles  of  railway  into  a 
system  that  will  develop  the  vast  agricultural 
and  mineral  empire  of  central  and  southern 
Brazil  and  Bolivia,  and  carry  the  produce  to 
the  Argentine  seaboard,  will  gain  a  prize 
unequaled  in  the  railroad  world,  and  make 
of  Paraguay  a  country  of  first  importance  on 
the  continent. 

Throughout  the  country  the  forests  are 
being  cleared  to  make  room  for  potreros 
(cattle  ranches)  and  the  growing  agricultural 
industries.  Yerbales  are  coming  more  and 
more  under  the  scientific  culture  which 
greatly  enhances  the  value  of  the  country's 
leading  product,  yerba  mate,  or  Paraguay 
tea. 

Paraguay  is  the  namesake  and  chief  pro- 
ducer of  the  famous  yerba  mate  or  Paraguay 
tea,  which  is  the  national  drink — the  cup  of 
ceremony  and  popular  tipple  throughout 
the  central  part  of  South  America  below  the 
coffee  belt;  that  is,  on  the  Argentine  Campo, 
in  Uruguay,  Paraguay,  the  lower  part  of 
Brazil,  Bolivia  and  Chile.  So  well  adapted 

253 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

is  the  beverage  to  the  climate  that  the  German 
colonists  forsake  their  beer  and  the  Euro- 
pean-Latins their  sweet  cordials  for  the  stim- 
ulating and  non-alcoholic  native  product. 

The  yerba  leaf  is  prepared  by  steeping  in 
boiling  water,  as  in  the  case  of  the  tea  with 
which  the  rest  of  the  world  is  familiar.  The 
mate  is  the  dried  gourd  in  which  the  tea  is 
brewed.  Into  the  aperture  left  by  removing 
the  stem,  a  tube  (the  bombilla),  made  of  reed 
or  bone,  is  inserted  and  through  this  the 
drinker  sucks  the  refreshing  brew.  When- 
ever the  occasion  offers  "Toma  usted  mate?  " 
is  almost  a  form  of  greeting  in  the  yerba 
mate  countries,  so  universal  is  its  popularity. 
Among  the  rich  the  mate  and  bombilla  are 
fashioned  in  costly  metals,  but  elsewhere  the 
gourd  and  reed  serve  their  purpose  with 
equal,  if  not  greater,  satisfaction. 

The  ilex  paraguayensis,  to  give  the  herb 
its  botanical  name,  is  an  evergreen  tree  or 
shrub  from  twelve  to  twenty-five  feet  high, 
with  bright  green  leaves  clustered  in  a  bushy 
mass  that  cause  it  from  a  distance  to  re- 
semble the  orange  tree.  Although  much  of 
the  yerba  mate  is  still  obtained  from  the 
immense  natural  forests,  the  ever-increasing 

254 


PARAGUAY 

demand  has  made  cultivation  a  necessity. 
Many  plantations  have  been  successfully  laid 
out,  and  crops  of  leaves  have  recently  been 
gathered  with  commercially  profitable  results. 
The  scientific  methods  now  being  adopted  in 
the  yerbales  (yerba  plantations)  of  Para- 
guay to  supplant  the  destructive  system  of 
the  past  will  insure  for  this  growing  industry 
a  rich  return  to  the  owners. 

The  drink  is  taken  without  the  addition  of 
condiment  and  for  the  most  part  hot,  like  the 
Japanese  sake.  It  is  stimulating  and  sus- 
taining, and  soothes  instead  of  irritating  the 
nervous  system.  Unlike  the  concoctions  made 
from  the  coca  leaf  (cocaine),  sugar  cane 
(rum),  pulque,  sake,  vodka  and  other  stim- 
ulants stumbled  upon  by  native  peoples  and 
become  destructive  habits,  yerba  mate  has  no 
deleterious  effects  either  immediate  or  after 
prolonged  use. 

Dr.  Lenglet,  President  of  the  Interna- 
tional League  of  Pure  Food,  says  of  it: 

"The  noteworthy  point  of  the  effect  of  mate  on 
the  system  is  its  stimulating  action  on  the  cerebro- 
spinal  organs.  Taken  with  sugar  the  first  thing  in 
the  morning  it  is  very  wholesome.  It  gives  great 
capacity  to  undergo  fatigue  and  invigorates  the 

255 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

brain,  and  although  it  prevents  feeling  hungry,  one 
does  not  enjoy  one's  meals  any  the  less.  It  does  not 
appear  to  affect  the  intestinal  organs ;  the  nervous 
system  is,  nevertheless,  insensible  to  the  organic  losses 
caused  by  the  want  of  nourishment  which  are  made 
known  by  hunger. 

"In  mate  is  found  one  of  the  most  important  means 
to  obtain  a  maximum  of  strength  and  energy.  It  can 
be  compared  to  a  reservoir  of  vitality." 


256 


VI 


BOLIVIA 

IN  the  heart  of  the  continent  a  vast  table 
of  land  as  large  as  all  our  Middle  States 
has  been  crowded  up  into  the  air  by  some 
titanic  convulsion  to  a  height  of  more  than 
two  miles,  or  fourteen  thousand  feet.  The 
surface  in  many  places  is  deeply  encrusted 
with  salt,  suggesting  the  upheaval  of  a  great 
mediterranean  sea  and  a  spilling  of  its  waters 
over  the  succession  of  terraced  slopes  that 
finally  break  off  abruptly  and  merge  in  the 
summer  valleys  of  Brazil  and  Paraguay;  for 
from  these  heights  innumerable  streams  shim- 
mer off  toward  the  distant  Amazon. 

The  plateau  is  hemmed  in  by  the  Cordillera 
de  la  Costa  (the  coast  range)  and  the  Cor- 
dillera Real,  the  main  range,  on  the  east,  and 
is  intersected  in  various  directions  by  cross- 
sections,  the  whole  producing  a  topography 
of  a  grandeur  that  makes  all  attempts  at 
description  pitifully  inadequate.  The  majes- 
tic snow-clad  peaks  of  Guallatiri  and  Miniquis 

257 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

in  the  coast  range,  and  Illampu  (Sorata), 
Illimani,  Chachacomani,  and  Karkaake  in  the 
Cordillera  Real  rise  to  a  height  of  over  22,000 
feet.  A  dozen  more  in  both  ranges  exceed 
20,000.  On  the  northwestern  border  along 
the  Peruvian  frontier,  lies  Lake  Titicaca, 
unique  also  in  that  it  is  the  highest  navigated 
body  of  water  on  the  globe.  It  is  160  miles 
long  by  thirty  wide  and  is  fed  by  the  melting 
Andean  snows. 

This  plateau  is  the  center  of  Bolivia's  life 
to-day,  as  it  was  the  cradle  of  successive  ab- 
original civilizations  that  finally  culminated 
many  centuries  ago  in  the  Inca  empire.  It  is 
the  highest  inhabited  land  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  with  the  possible  exception  of  Tibet. 
The  evidence  at  every  hand  of  nature's  tre- 
mendous activities  must  have  left  its  impress 
on  the  races  that  formerly  had  their  being 
here.  The  gigantic  relics  which  are  now  the 
enduring  monuments  of  these  peoples  are 
proof  of  the  bigness  of  their  point  of  view. 
They  saw  largely  and  the  range  of  their 
vision  embraced  great  distances,  great  alti- 
tudes, and  great  depths.  There  is  evidence 
also  that  the  newly  awakened  present  race  will 
prove  worthy  of  its  surroundings. 

258 


BOLIVIA 

The  people  now  inhabiting  this  great  An- 
dean Massif  have  in  their  veins  the  blood  of 
both  the  intrepid  Conquistadores  and  the 
hardy  Aymara  and  Inca  stock,  and  it  is  in  the 
nature  of  things  that  the  present-day  Bolivian, 
now  that  his  republicanism  is  established  after 
a  century  of  turbulent  assimilation,  will  make 
great  strides  in  industrial  progress  in  jus- 
tification of  the  spirit  that  is  his  birthright. 
In  this  altitude,  so  high  that  at  first  most 
foreigners  suffer  from  its  effects,  the  Bo- 
livians have  built  their  capital  and  chief  cities. 
Here  the  first  blow  was  struck  against  the 
oppression  of  Spain,  and  in  the  mountain  de- 
files of  the  Peruvian  Andes  leading  down  to 
the  Pacific  coast  the  last  shot  was  fired  that 
drove  the  viceregal  army  to  its  transports. 
With  the  departure  of  the  Spanish  came  the 
establishment,  in  1825,  of  the  Republic  of 
Bolivia,  the  name  given  to  the  old  Buenos 
Airean  province  of  Alto-Peru  by  its  first 
president,  Bolivar's  famous  lieutenant,  Gen- 
eral Sucre,  in  honor  of  his  chief. 

Bolivia  is  fourth  in  size  among  the  South 
American  republics.  It  covers  708,195 
square  miles,  and  could  include  within  its 
limits  the  combined  areas  of  California, 

259 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Nevada,  Utah,  Idaho,  Arizona,  Oregon,  and 
Washington.  The  republic  lies  wholly  within 
the  torrid  zone,  but  the  gradation  of  its 
topography  extends  from  the  yungas  ("hot 
valleys")  at  the  border  of  the  Amazon  basin 
to  the  punas,  or  high  table-lands,  ranging 
from  four  to  fourteen  thousand  feet,  so  that 
animal  and  vegetable  life  of  every  clime  is 
represented — from  the  brilliantly  colored  fla- 
mingo and  butterfly  of  the  Amazon  plains  to 
the  dread  condor  of  the  Andes;  from  the 
rubber  tree,  through  all  stages  of  arborial 
and  plant  life,  to  the  little  yellow  bitter  po- 
tato, grown  near  the  point  at  which  vegeta- 
tion vanishes  in  the  Arctic  cold  of  the  higher 
peaks. 

Of  course,  the  shortest  and  most  direct 
route  to  Bolivia's  capital  and  chief  cities  is 
by  rail  from  either  of  the  Pacific  ports  of 
Mollendo,  in  Peru,  or  Arica  or  Antofagasta, 
in  Chile.  The  quick  change  of  view  from 
the  arid  coast  to  the  grandeur  of  Andean 
mountain  scenery,  and  the  familiar  comforts 
of  railway  travel  incline  most  visitors  to  the 
approach  from  one  of  those  points.  But,  as 
the  greater  part  of  Bolivia's  territory  is  that 
which  falls  away  from  the  plateau,  like  a 

260 


BOLIVIA 

lady's  train,  northward  and  eastward  to  the 
frontiers  of  Brazil  and  Paraguay,  a  more 
comprehensive  and  impressive  acquaintance 
with  the  country  can  be  had  by  entering 
either  from  the  north,  via  the  Amazon  and 
Maderia  rivers  to  Villa  Bella  on  the  Bra- 
zilian frontier,  and  thence  over  a  thousand 
miles  on  horseback  to  La  Paz,  or  from  the 
east,  starting  from  our  last  resting  place  at 
Asuncion  in  Paraguay.  From  Asuncion  one 
travels  up  the  Paraguay  River  to  Corumba  in 
Brazil,  thence,  by  a  small  affluent  to  Puerto 
Suarez,  eighty-one  miles  distant  on  the  fron- 
tier, thence  by  a  zigzag  course  of  eight  hun- 
dred miles  up  the  rising  elevation  to  Santa 
Cruz,  a  thriving  city  of  20,000  population, 
and  thence  to  Cochabamba,  still  larger  and 
8000  feet  in  altitude.  From  here  there  is  a 
stage  line  over  one  hundred  and  ten  miles  of 
mountainous  country  to  Oruro,  where  con- 
nection is  made  with  the  Antofagasta-La  Paz 
railway  to  the  capital. 

Or  one  may  go  by  railroad  from  Buenos 
Aires  via  Rosario,  Cordoba  and  Tucuman  to 
La  Quiaca  on  the  frontier  and  then  north  for 
only  two  hundred  miles  by  stage-coach  to 
Uyuni,  through  which  the  Antofagasta-La 

261 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Paz  line  passes  on  its  way  to  the  capital. 
But,  in  any  event,  the  approach  from  the  east 
or  north  richly  repays  the  visitor  for  the  time 
consumed  and  discomfort  he  may  have  to 
undergo  on  the  way.  The  noted  naturalist, 
D'Aubigny,  says  of  the  yungas  region, 
through  which  one  must  first  make  his  way 
on  leaving  the  Paraguay:  "If  tradition  has 
lost  the  records  of  the  place  where  Paradise 
is  situated,  the  traveler  who  visits  these  re- 
gions of  Bolivia  feels  at  once  the  impulse  to 
exclaim,  'Here  is  the  lost  Eden.' ' 

Leaving  the  dense  and  weirdly  impressive 
tropical  forests  of  the  hinterland,  the  rolling 
areas  of  the  yungas  ascend  toward  the 
plateau — a  succession  of  vast  gardens  deli- 
cately scented  and  brilliant  with  color.  As 
the  country  is  coming  more  under  cultivation 
each  year  the  traveler's  eye  rests  frequently 
upon  plantations  of  coffee,  cacao,  and  coca, 
the  plant  from  which  we  get  cocaine.  The 
coca  leaf  is  highly  prized  by  the  native  as  a 
stimulant;  he  chews  it  as  a  Northerner  would 
chew  tobacco  but  with  a  better  excuse,  since 
by  its  use  he  can  perform  great  feats  of  en- 
durance and  go  many  hours  without  food. 
With  his  pouch  filled  with  coca  leaves  and  a 

262 


BOLIVIA 

small  supply  or  parched  Indian  corn,  he  can 
run  fifty  miles  a  day,  for  these  fleet-footed 
Indians  constitute  the  telegraph  system  of 
this  region.  The  output  of  the  cocales,  or 
coca  plantations,  was  nearly  nine  million 
pounds  last  year. 

This  is  also  the  home  of  the  highly  nu- 
tritious if  impossibly  named  jamacch'ppeke 
plant,  which,  when  dried  and  powdered  and 
mixed  with  water,  produces  a  delicately  fla- 
vored milk  much  used  in  hospitals  and  even 
for  babies.  Higher  up  in  the  valle  zone  wheat 
and  corn  fields  may  be  seen  as  well  as  the  fa- 
mous chincona  tree,  so  named  because,  in 
1638,  the  Condesa  de  Chinchon  (wife  of  the 
Peruvian  Viceroy)  wrote  of  her  wonderful 
cure  from  malaria  by  an  Indian  draught  pre- 
pared from  the  bark  of  this  tree.  It  has  been 
known  since  as  chincona  or  Peruvian  bark, 
but  it  was  not  until  1820  that  the  French 
chemist,  Pelletier,  extracted  from  the  tree 
the  calisaya  or  quinine  with  which  we  are 
now  familiar,  and  which,  by  the  way,  is  said 
to  be  one  of  the  two  or  three  natural  specifics 
ever  yet  discovered  for  disease. 

On  these  slopes  also  grows  the  new  sub- 
stitute for  wheat,  quinua,  a  grain  more  nu- 

263 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

tritious  and  more  cheaply  produced  than  its 
northern  prototype,  also  the  delicious  camote, 
a  delicately  flavored  type  of  sweet  potato, 
the  palta,  known  in  Cuba  and  Mexico  as  the 
aguacate  and  in  Florida  as  the  alligator  pear, 
which  makes  the  rich  salad,  and  all  vari- 
ations of  the  sweet,  pulpy  fruits  like  the 
pomegranate,  granadilla,  capote,  etc.  This 
is  also  one  of  the  homes  of  the  nutmeg,  olive, 
and  castor  bean,  and  of  sugar,  cotton,  oranges, 
cinnamon,  vanilla,  saffron,  indigo,  and  ginger ; 
also  of  a  remarkable  variety  of  medicinal 
plants:  for  instance,  those  from  which  are 
derived  aconite,  arnica,  absinthe,  belladonna, 
camphor,  quassia,  cocaine,  digitalis,  gentian, 
ginger,  ipecaque,  jalap,  opium,  sarsaparilla, 
tamarind,  tolu  and  valerian.  The  Indians  of 
this  belt  are  the  most  artistic  leather  workers 
in  the  world,  and  their  beautiful  ponchos  (a 
sort  of  circular  cape  the  mountaineers  wear, 
with  a  hole  in  the  center  for  the  head  to  go 
through),  woven  from  native  silk,  are  eagerly 
sought  by  all  visitors. 

Leaving  this  richly  endowed  agricultural 
region  for  the  still  richer  location  of  Bo- 
livia's mineral  wealth,  the  traveler  ascends  to 
the  great  plateau  on  which  the  capital  and 

264 


BOLIVIA 

important  cities  are  built.  At  Potosi  one  is 
in  the  heart  of  the  great  silver  country.  From 
one  mountain  here,  the  Cerro  de  Potosi  itself, 
over  three  billion  dollars'  worth  of  silver 
has  been  taken  since  its  discovery  in 
1545.  The  luxury  and  almost  unbeliev- 
able extravagance  told  of  in  the  annals 
of  this  city  have  given  it  a  world-wide  fame. 
Its  principal  building,  the  mint,  cost  the  then 
unprecedented  sum  of  two  million  dollars,  an 
expenditure  that  brought  many  qualms  to 
the  miserly  ascetic,  Philip  II,  who  would 
have  preferred  to  pour  the  flood  of  wealth 
into  the  coffers  of  the  church.  The  author 
of  "Don  Quixote"  refers  to  Potosi  as  the 
synonym  for  fabulous  wealth,  and  there  is 
hardly  a  writer  of  the  early  days  of  the  col- 
ony who  did  not  mention  the  silver  mountain 
to  illustrate  the  idea  of  lavish  abundance.  In 
those  days  silver  was  regarded  as  equally 
valuable  with  gold. 

Bolivia's  marvelous  wealth  in  tin  is  un- 
excelled even  in  the  Malay  Peninsula.  Al- 
ready one  of  the  chief  centers  of  the  tin  indus- 
try, this  metal  promises  to  bring  to  the 
twentieth-century  Bolivia  as  much  commercial 
fame  as  the  gold  mines  brought  Alto-Peru 

265 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

in  the  sixteenth  century.  Copper,  iron,  lead 
and  bismuth,  as  well  as  topazes,  emeralds, 
opals,  jasper,  and  marble,  are  also  present  in 
large  quantities  throughout  the  plateau. 

After  descending  from  Potosi,  which  is  at 
an  altitude  of  15,380  feet,  one  should  visit 
the  white  city  of  Sucre  before  proceeding  to 
the  present  seat  of  government,  La  Paz.  In 
Bolivia  the  name  of  Sucre  is  as  omnipresent 
as  Bolivar's  in  Venezuela  and  Colombia,  and 
most  naturally  when  the  new  republic  was 
formed  the  name  of  its  chief  city,  Charcas, 
was  changed  to  Sucre  to  honor  the  hero  of 
Ayacucho — Antonio  Jose  de  Sucre — when 
this  "right  hand"  of  Bolivar  became  its  first 
president.  The  city  is  ancient,  kindly,  and 
romantically  beautiful  in  its  setting  on  the 
eastern  slope  of  the  royal  range,  and  once, 
under  a  law  enacted  some  eighty  years  ago, 
it  was  the  capital. 

Its  extreme  altitude,  however,  made  im- 
possible the  cosmopolitanism  that  must  per- 
tain to  a  capital  city — the  foreign  diplomats 
in  most  cases  refused  to  reside  there  be- 
cause of  the  severity  of  the  siroche,  or 
mountain  sickness,  that  nearly  always  as- 
sails the  newcomer  to  these  altitudes.  So 

266 


SHRINE    OF    OUR    LADY    OF    CAPACABANA,    ON     BOLIVIAN    SHORE    OF 
LAKE    TITICACA. 


TOWN    AND    MOUNTAIN    OF    POTOSI,    BOLIVIA. 


BOLIVIA 

the  seat  of  government  was  removed  to 
La  Paz,  and  now  it  is  the  tribunal  of  the 
Supreme  Court  and  Archiepiscopal  see  only. 
Here  also  are  located  the  University  of  San 
Francisco  Xavier  and  the  homes  of  many  of 
Bolivia's  most  aristocratic  families.  Thus 
far,  modernism  has  had  a  beneficial  influence 
on  the  city  in  many  respects,  but  has  not 
changed  its  appearance.  Its  public  works 
have  made  it  healthful  and  comfortable,  but 
its  stately  old  dwellings  and  public  buildings 
preserve  their  peculiar  charm  unaltered  to 
suit  the  modern  architectural  taste. 

Farther  north,  and  not  yet  connected  by 
rail  with  Sucre,  lies  the  present  capital,  La 
Paz,  the  actual  seat  of  government.  There 
for  many  years  have  resided  the  president, 
the  congress,  and  the  representatives  of  the 
foreign  governments,  so  that  the  Paceno  is 
justified  in  looking  upon  his  city  as  the 
metropolis.  Like  its  predecessor  in  this 
distinction,  it  was  rechristened  when  the 
Spanish  regime  came  to  an  end.  When  the 
Conquistadores  exterminated  the  Indians  res- 
ident on  its  site  and  built  the  present  city, 
for  some  occult  reason  they  named  it  La 
Ciudad  de  Nuestra  Senora  de  la  Paz!  Our 

267 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Lady  of  Peace  clung  to  the  name,  no  doubt, 
with  grim  humor  during  the  turbulent  times 
that  followed,  until  the  decisive  battle  of 
Ayacucho  brought  to  the  nation  a  more 
effective  peace  from  Spanish  oppression,  and 
to-day  La  Paz  de  Ayacucho  is  the  official 
name  of  the  seat  of  government. 

La  Paz,  Quito,  Bogota,  Caracas,  and  Mex- 
ico are  the  five  highest  capitals  in  the  world, 
but  the  first-named  is  loftier  by  half  a  mile 
than  any  of  its  rivals.  The  visitor  is  always 
surprised  at  the  location  of  La  Paz.  Hav- 
ing been  told  of  its  great  elevation — 12,300 
feet  above  the  sea  level,  he  naturally  ex- 
pects to  see  a  city  perched  on  a  high  moun- 
tain; in  fact,  it  is  at  the  bottom  of  a  deep 
canyon,  backed,  however,  by  the  giant  peak 
Illimani,  which  towers  above,  to  a  height  of 
22,500  feet.  Its  startling  location  results  in 
daily  variations  in  temperature  that  greatly 
incommode  the  stranger;  frequently  the  ther- 
mometer drops  from  80°  F.  at  noon  to  below 
zero  at  night,  although  generally  these  ex- 
tremes vary  but  little  during  the  year. 

Winding  cautiously  down  the  canyon  to  a 
depth  of  some  1500  feet,  the  train  comes  to 
a  terrace  overlooking  the  city  and  then  un- 

268 


BOLIVIA 

folds  before  the  traveler  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable and  picturesque  scenes  in  South 
America.  The  reds  of  the  roofs  of  the  flat, 
two-story  houses  and  the  softer  tints  of  the 
walls  that  make  Caracas  so  alluring  are  here 
given  a  more  brilliant  and  positive  tone.  The 
Oriental  atmosphere  is  tempered  by  the 
rugged  surroundings  and  the  crisper,  clearer 
air  of  the  higher  altitude.  Everywhere  the 
bright,  elemental  colors — red,  green,  and 
yellow — worn  by  the  Indians,  add  to  the 
brilliant  scenes  of  outdoor  life.  The  streets  of 
the  city  are  a  series  of  steep  ascents,  admirable 
for  drainage,  no  doubt,  but  affording  little 
pleasure  to  the  visitor  who  is  fond  of  walk- 
ing, for  to  the  newcomer  the  rarified  at- 
mosphere makes  exercise  a  trial.  Surpassing 
Rome  in  one  respect,  La  Paz  seems  to  be 
built  upon  at  least  fifty  hills,  but  many  level 
areas  are  laid  off  in  beautiful  parks,  a  dozen 
or  more  in  number,  and  here  the  Paceno 
brings  his  guests  for  the  delightful  social 
intercourse — perfected  here  for  long  cen- 
turies for  want  of  many  of  the  other  amuse- 
ments— that  makes  his  city  memorable  to  the 
visitor. 

One    of    the    most    attractive    parks,    the 
269 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Plaza  Murillo,  is  named  to  commemorate  the 
inspiring  genius  of  the  revolution  against 
Spain:  Pedro  Domingo  Murillo.  The  Ala- 
meda  is  a  broad  driveway  of  five  parallel 
avenues  that  run  for  over  half  a  mile  through 
rows  of  fine  shade  trees.  At  night  it  is 
lighted  with  electricity  and  makes  a  delightful 
pleasure  ground  for  the  people.  An  exten- 
sion of  this  boulevard,  the  Avenida  Doce  de 
Deciembre,  leads  to  Obrajes,  about  three 
miles  distant. 

The  most  notable  building  in  the  city 
is  the  great  cathedral.  For  more  than  sev- 
enty years  it  has  been  in  course  of  construc- 
tion and  when  completed  will  be  the  largest 
and  most  impressive  church  erected  in  Latin 
America  since  the  war  of  independence.  In 
style  it  is  Greco-Roman,  with  a  central  cupola 
150  feet  high  and  two  towers  that  rise  to  a 
height  of  200  feet.  The  interior  work  is  of 
exceptional  magnificence.  Like  many  of  the 
old  cathedrals  of  Spanish  origin,  its  altar  is 
of  wonderfully  carved  wood.  Besides  the 
cathedral,  La  Paz  can  boast  more  than  a 
dozen  places  of  worship  that  compare  fa- 
vorably with  the  churches  of  other  South 
American  capitals. 

270 


BOLIVIA 

Only  a  short  distance  from  La  Paz  by 
railroad  are  the  prehistoric  ruins  of  Tia- 
huanaco,  which  Squier  tells  us 

"Have  been  regarded  by  all  students  of  American 
antiquities  as  in  many  respects  the  most  interesting, 
important  and  at  the  same  time  the  most  enigmatical, 
of  any  on  the  continent.  They  have  excited  the  won- 
der and  admiration  alike  of  the  earliest  and  latest 
travelers,  most  of  whom,  vanquished  in  their  attempts 
to  penetrate  the  mystery  of  their  origin,  have  been 
content  to  assign  them  an  antiquity  beyond  that  of 
the  other  monuments  of  America  and  to  regard  them 
as  the  solitary  remains  of  a  civilization  that  disap- 
peared before  that  of  the  Incas  began,  and  contem- 
poraneous with  that  of  Egypt  and  the  East.  .  .  . 
Tradition,  which  mumbles  more  or  less  intelligibly 
of  the  origin  of  many  other  American  monuments,  is 
dumb  concerning  these." 

They  are  on  a  broad,  arid  plain,  overlook- 
ing Lake  Titicaca,  about  twelve  miles  from 
the  shore,  and  occupy  about  a  square  mile. 
In  his  description  of  them  Mozans  says:  "In 
addition  to  a  number  of  shapeless  mounds,  of 
earth,  there  are  remarkable  traces  of  five 
different  stone  structures,  which  writers,  for 
the  purpose  of  classification"  (and  because 
of  their  resemblance  to  plans  of  such  build- 
ings elsewhere),  "have  agreed  to  call  the 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

fortress,  the  palace,  the  temple,  the  sanctuary, 
and  the  hall  of  justice." 

"The  materials  used  in  their  construction," 
he  goes  on, 

"Are  trachyte,  basalt,  and  red  sandstone.  The 
fortress,  to  judge  from  its  present  condition,  orig- 
inally resembled  a  Mexican  teocalli,  or  the  pyramid  of 
Sakkarah  in  Egypt,  and  must,  when  first  erected, 
have  presented  a  very  imposing  appearance.  It  is 
a  great,  terraced  mound  of  earth,  supported  by  stone 
walls,  is  50  feet  high,  620  feet  long,  and  450  in 
width.  It  is,  however,  in  a  very  dilapidated  condi- 
tion, owing  to  the  depredations  of  treasure-seekers 
and  to  its  having  been  for  centuries  used  as  a  quarry 
whence  material  was  obtained  for  buildings  in  the 
neighboring  towns,  for  the  railroad  and  for  struc- 
tures in  La  Paz.  The  temple  is  in  the  form  of  a 
rectangle,  388  by  445  feet.  It  has  been  very  ap- 
propriately called  the  American  Stonehenge,  to  which, 
at  least  in  some  of  its  monoliths,  it  bears  a  striking 
resemblance. 

"The  other  three  edifices,  especially  at  the  hall  of 
justice,  are  likewise  remarkable  for  the  area  they 
occupy  and  for  the  cyclopean  masses  of  stone  that  still 
remain  to  attest  the  extraordinary  character  of  their 
construction.  It  is  these  wonderful  megaliths,  rival- 
ing anything  found  in  Italy,  Greece,  or  Asia  Minor, 
that  have  excited  the  astonishment  of  travelers  since 
the  time  of  the  conquest.  The  platform,  for  instance, 
in  the  hall  of  justice,  is  paved  with  immense  slabs, 
some  of  which  are  25  feet  long,  14  feet  broad,  and 
nearly  7  feet  thick.  But  the  most  remarkable  fea- 

272 


BOLIVIA 

ture  in  these  cyclopean  structures  is  the  great  mono- 
lithic gateway,  of  very  hard  trachyte,  ornamented 
with  numerous  well-executed  sculptures,  apparently 
of  a  symbolical  character.  This  is  more  than  13  feet 
long,  7  feet  above  ground,  and  18  inches  thick.  Some 
of  the  stones  are  in  a  rough,  unhewn  condition,  but 
most  of  them  are  cut  and  fashioned  in  a  most  re- 
markable manner.  Squier,  in  referring  to  this  feature 
of  these  extraordinary  ruins,  writes:  'Remove  the 
superstructures  of  the  best-built  edifices  of  our  cities, 
and  few,  if  any,  would  expose  foundations  laid  with 
equal  care  and  none  of  them  stones  cut  with  such 
accuracy.' ' 

In  a  short  time  the  new  home  of  the 
president  and  national  congress  will  be  fin- 
ished and  occupied,  and  the  stately  old  pal- 
ace where  the  president  now  resides  will  be 
devoted  to  other  uses.  The  city  is  well  en- 
dowed with  public  service  conveniences,  elec- 
tricity, telephones,  and  handsome  public 
buildings,  and  its  hotels  are  among  the  best 
to  be  found  anywhere  on  the  continent  out- 
side of  Buenos  Aires,  Rio  and  Valparaiso. 

Of  the  80,000  inhabitants,  but  one  thou- 
sand are  foreigners.  As  soon  as  the  rail- 
ways now  projected  to  radiate  from  this  cen- 
ter are  completed,  the  city  will  be  thrown 
open  to  all  the  bustle  of  cosmopolitanism,  and 
much  of  the  charm  given '  it  by  the  old 

273 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Spanish  characteristics  will  be  swept  away. 
But  the  nation  will  profit  vastly  by  the 
change.  The  development  of  its  agricultural 
and  mineral  resources  should  multiply  its 
population  of  2,500,000  by  ten,  and  make 
of  the  country  a  Mecca  for  the  capitalist  from 
the  North  as  well  as  the  tourist  in  search  of 
nature's  wonders  and  beauties. 


274 


VII 

CHILE 


,"  which,  by  a  curious  coinci- 
dence,  had  about  the  same  signifi- 
cance in  the  Inca  language  that  our 
word  "chilly"  has  in  English,  is  the  name  that 
was  originally  given  by  the  Incas  to  that  part 
of  the  Pacific  slope  of  the  Andes  which  lies 
beyond  the  river  Maule,  the  southern  boun- 
dary of  their  great  empire.  At  the  time  of 
the  Spanish  conquest,  the  first  Governor, 
Pedro  de  Valdivia,  dubbed  it  "Nueva  Es- 
tremadura,"  after  his  native  province  in 
Spain,  and  so  called  it  in  his  official  commu- 
nications, yet  not  only  did  the  Inca  name 
cling  to  the  country  south  of  the  Maule  but 
soon  it  was  popularly  applied  to  that  in  the 
north  as  well,  as  far  up  as  Peru.  And  so 
when,  some  years  afterward  (says  the  his- 
torian Resales),  the  Emperor  Charles  V  of 

275 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Germany,  who  was  also  King  of  Spain,  was 
negotiating  the  marriage  of  his  son  Philip 
with  Mary,  Queen  of  England,  and  was  told 
that,  being  a  sovereign  in  her  own  right,  she 
would  enter  into  such  an  alliance  only  with 
a  reigning  monarch,  he  caused  Philip  to  be 
crowned  King  of  Chile  and  Naples,  and  thus 
incidentally,  in  distinguishing  the  province' 
above  his  other  American  possessions,  con- 
firmed its  original  name,  and  Chile  it  has 
been  called  ever  since. 

The  territory  of  the  present  republic  con- 
sists of  a  strip  of  land  of  most  extraordinary 
conformation  lying  between  the  main  Cor- 
dillera of  the  Andes  and  the  sea.  It  has  an 
average  width  of  less  than  a  hundred  miles, 
yet  stretches  for  nearly  three  thousand  miles 
from  a  point  in  the  tropics  considerably  above 
the  center  of  the  continent,  clear  down  to 
Cape  Horn,  crossing  thirty-eight  degrees  of 
latitude  and  embracing  an  area  of  nearly 
291,500  square  miles.  A  strip  of  the  same 
length  in  North  America  would  reach  from 
Key  West  to  northern  Labrador,  or,  if 
measured  along  the  Rocky  Mountains,  from 
Mexico  to  the  Yukon  in  Alaska.  Reckoned 
in  square  miles,  it  is  larger  than  any  country 

276 


CHILE 

in  Europe  except  Russia,  though  it  has  a 
population,  according  to  the  last  census 
(1907),  of  only  3,254,451— less  than  that  of 
the  city  and  suburbs  of  Paris  or  of  New 
York.  In  foreign  commerce  Chile  ranks  tnird 
among  the  South  American  republics.  In 
1910  it  amounted  in  value  to  $228,604,198.64. 
The  principal  exports  are  silver,  copper,  ni- 
trates, borax,  sulphur,  vegetable  products, 
wines  and  liquors.  Her  exchange  of  com- 
merce with  the  United  States  amounted  to 
$38,050,652. 

On  ordinary  maps  this  narrow  Chilean  half 
of  the  Andean  region  looks  like  a  mere  strip 
of  coast  traversed  by  a  single  range.  As  a 
consequence,  it  is  not  generally  understood 
by  those  who  have  not  visited  the  country 
that  there  is  really  here,  as  in  Bolivia,  Peru 
and  Ecuador,  a  double  formation,  connected 
by  transverse  ridges  in  places,  but  perfectly 
distinct,  known  as  the  Andes  proper,  or  main 
Cordillera,  and  the  coast  range,  or  western 
Cordillera.  Between  the  two  systems  is  a  vast 
plateau,  called  the  central  valley,  which  be- 
gins in  the  northern  Province  of  Atacama, 
and,  gradually  decreasing  in  height,  extends 
south  for  seven  hundred  miles,  with  an  aver- 

277 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

age  width  of  from  fifty  to  sixty  miles, 
through  the  Province  of  Llanquihue,  about 
two-thirds  of  the  way  down  the  coast,  where 
it  disappears,  with  the  coast  range  itself,  in 
the'  long  series  of  groups  of  islands  into 
which  the  shore  line  is  broken  up.  From  its 
culminating  point  back  of  Santiago,  the  main 
Cordillera  also  decreases  in  height  toward 
the  south,  but,  instead  of  disappearing  with 
the  coast  range,  extends  throughout  the  whole 
length  of  the  country,  from  Peru  to  the 
southernmost  islands  of  the  Fuegian  archi- 
pelago, forming  the  most  magnificent  back- 
ground imaginable  to  the  view  from  the  sea. 

In  the  northern  section,  between  the  Boliv- 
ian frontier  and  Coquimbo,  there  are  more 
than  thirty  extinct  or  dormant  volcanoes  of 
great  altitude — Toroni  (21,340  feet,  or  about 
four  miles,  high),  Pular  (21,325  feet  high), 
Iquima  (20,275  feet),  Aucasquilucha  (20,260 
feet),  Llulaillaco  (20,253  feet),  San  Jose 
(20,020  feet),  Socompa  (19,940  feet),  and 
many  others  over  17,000  feet.  Imagine  these 
in  contrast  with  Etna  (10,875  feet)  and  Ve- 
suvius, which  is  only  3800  feet,  not  as  high 
as  the  cones  of  some  of  them  alone.  South 
of  the  Province  of  Copaibo,  the  main  range 

278 


CHILE 

itself  develops  a  plateau  formation  that  is 
crossed  by  several  relatively  low  passes,  such 
as  the  Portezuelo  de  Come  Caballo  (14,530 
feet),  Los  Patos  (11,700  feet),  and,  farther 
south,  on  a  line  with  Valparaiso,  the  Uspal- 
lata  Cumbre  (12,795  feet).  Although  little 
used  even  now  because  of  its  extremely  rug- 
ged character,  Los  Patos  is  associated  with 
perhaps  the  most  memorable  event  in  the  war 
of  independence.  It  was  there  that,  in  the 
execution  of  that  strategic  movement  which 
South  American  historians  say  excelled  that 
of  Hannibal  in  the  Pyrenees  and  Napoleon's 
crossing  of  the  Alps,  the  Liberator  San 
Martin  safely  made  his  way  through  with 
his  whole  army  in  1817 — artillery,  impedi- 
menta, and  all — and,  within  five  days,  joined 
forces  with  the  Chilean  hero,  O'Higgins,  sur- 
prised the  Royalist  army  awaiting  him  on 
the  plain  opposite  the  Cumbre  below,  fought 
the  great  battle  of  Chacabuco,  and  entered 
Santiago  in  triumph. 

But  this  lower  Uspallata  Pass,  which  has 
always  been  the  principal  means  of  land  com- 
munication with  Argentina,  was  destined  to 
become  famous  in  another  way,  because  (as 
already  mentioned  in  the  chapter  on  Argen- 

279 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

tina),  it  was  the  place  chosen  as  the  most 
suitable  for  the  route  of  the  Chilean- Argen- 
tine transcontinental  railroad,  connection  be- 
tween the  eastern  and  western  sections  of 
which  was  established  in  April,  1910,  by 
completion  of  a  tunnel  through  the  mountain 
two  miles  long  and  half  a  mile  beneath  the 
Cumbre — a  work  of  the  utmost  importance, 
for,  aside  from  the  matter  of  comfort  and 
saving  of  time,  it  has  made  it  possible  to  go 
from  one  country  to  the  other  by  the  land 
route  in  winter,  when  the  pass  above  is  cov- 
ered with  drifts  and  the  deadly  winds  and 
snowstorms  are  so  likely  to  whirl  down  on 
the  traveler  at  any  moment  that  few  except 
the  hardy  mail-carriers  ever  dared  attempt  it. 
In  this  neighborhood  the  mountains  at- 
tain their  greatest  altitude.  A  few  miles  to 
'the  north  and  visible  a  little  distance  from 
the  Cumbre  is  the  "Monarch  of  the  Andes," 
Aconcagua,  which,  according  to  the  record 
at  the  Harvard  University  Observatory  in 
Arequipa  (Peru),  is  24,760  feet  (more  than 
four  miles  and  a  half)  high — the  highest  in 
the  world,  it  is  now  regarded,  next  to  Mt. 
Everest  in  the  Himalayas.  In  his  interesting 
story  of  the  ascent  of  Aconcagua,  Sir  Mar- 

280 


CHILE 

tin  Conway,  one  of  the  very  few  who  ever  suc- 
ceeded in  accomplishing  it,  gives  a  good  idea 
of  the  region,  viewed  from  a  point  near  the 
lesser  of  the  two  summits.  "At  last  I  heard 
a  shout  and  looked  up  and  saw  Maquignaz  a 
yard  or  two  above  my  head,"  he  says, 

"Standing  on  the  crest  of  the  bed  of  snow  that 
crowned  the  arete.  In  a  moment  I  was  beside  him  and 
Argentina  lay  at  our  feet.  The  southern  snow  face, 
delusively  precipitous  though  actually  as  steep  as 
snow  can  lie,  dropped  in  a  single  fall  to  the  glacier 
two  miles  below.  To  the  right  and  left  for  over  a 
mile  there  stretched,  like  the  fine  edge  of  an  incurved 
blade,  the  sharp  snow  arete  that  reaches  from  the 
slightly  lower  southern  summit  to  the  northern.  It 
forms  the  top  edge  of  the  great  snow  slope  down 
which  we  were  looking,  and  is  only  visible  from  the 
Horcones  valley  side  as  a  delicate  silver  crest,  edging 
the  rocks.  At  many  points  it  overhung  in  big  cor- 
nices, like  frozen  waves  about  to  break.  The  day 
had  thus  far  been  fine,  but  clouds  were  now  gathering 
in  the  east.  Fearful  lest  the  view  might  soon  be 
blotted  out,  I  took  a  few  photographs  before  moving 
on.  The  view  abroad  from  this  point  differed  little 
from  that  which  we  finally  obtained.  To  the  south 
was  Tupungato  (22,408  feet),  a  majestic  pile  of 
snow,  over  which  even  more  majestic  clouds  were  pres- 
ently to  mount  aloft.  To  the  north  was  the  still 
grander  Mercedario  (22,315  feet),  beheld  around 
the  flank  of  the  final  rocks.  In  the  west  were  the 
hills,  dropping  lower  and  lower  to  the  Chilean  shore, 
and  then  the  purple  ocean.  To  the  northeast,  like 

281 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

another  ocean,  lay  the  flat  surface  of  the  Argentine 
pampas.  Elsewhere  the  Cordillera,  in  long  parallel 
ridges  running  roughly  north  and  south,  stretched 
its  great  length  along,  crowding  together  into  an 
inextricable  tangle  the  distant  peaks,  partly  hidden 
by  the  near  summits,  which  alone  interrupted  the 
completeness  of  the  panorama." 


All  the  high  peaks  are  said  to  be  of  vol- 
canic origin.  Those  from  Mercedario  to 
Tupungato  are  precipitous  and  craggy  and 
decked  with  great  glaciers.  The  sky  line  is 
jagged,  like  the  walls  of  a  ruined  castle.  Be- 
low the  snow,  the  rocks  are  richly  colored. 
There  are  vast  palisades  of  dark  reds  and 
browns,  slopes  of  purple  streaked  with  yel- 
low, and  all  sorts  of  other  gorgeous  combina- 
tions, and,  down  in  the  lower  valleys,  brilliant 
greens.  The  streams  of  melting  snow  pour- 
ing down  the  sides  seem  to  take  on  tints  that 
correspond.  In  some  places  they  flow  red,  as 
with  blood  from  the  breast  of  a  giant ;  in  others, 
with  the  sun  gleaming  on  them,  they  look 
like  molten  gold.  The  main  branch  of  the 
Rio  Mendoza,  for  instance,  above  Cuevas  on 
the  Argentine  side,  seems  pink  at  first,  and, 
lower  down,  after  mixing  with  the  waters  of 
its  tributaries,  changes  to  a  golden  brown.  It 


CHILE 

is  one  of  those  scenes  that  artists  are  always 
accused  of  exaggerating  and  adding  fanciful 
touches  to  when  they  attempt  the  poor  repro- 
ductions that  the  greatest  only  can  give,  so 
far  are  they  beyond  human  skill  to  portray — 
one  of  those  scenes  that  few  mortals  are  gifted 
enough  to  comprehend  the  unutterable  maj- 
esty and  magnificence  of  even  when  they  have 
an  opportunity  to  view  the  originals.  /'Even 
Burton  Holmes,  the  great  globe-trotter  and 
lecturer,  in  relating  his  impression  in  a  re- 
cent article,  confesses  that  he  could  not  ap- 
preciate it  at  first. 

"Naturally,  we  were  eager  at  least  to  see 
this  monarch  mountain — Aconcagua,  the 
King  of  the  Cordillera,"  he  says. 


f. 


Accordingly,  we  organized  a  little  expedition, 
and,  under  the  guidance  of  the  capable  young  Brit- 
isher who  is  in  charge  of  the  livestock  of  the  camp 
at  Puente  del  Inca,  and  his  Chilean  'Capitaz,'  or  chief 
man,  we  rode  away  up  a  lateral  valley  toward  a  well- 
known  point  of  view,  whence  Aconcagua  could  be 
clearly  seen.  A  snow-clad  mountain  looms  up  at  the 
end  of  that  barren  valley.  'That's  a  rather  fine  peak,' 
I  remarked.  'Well,  rather,'  replied  the  Englishman. 
'That's  the  one  you  have  come  to  see;  that's  Acon- 
cagua.' We  were  astounded,  for  the  mountain  seemed 
no  huger  than  the  Jungfrau,  as  viewed  from  Inter- 
laken.  In  fact,  it  greatly  resembles  the  Jungfrau  in 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

form  and  outline,  and  its  setting,  from  this  point  of 
view,  is  similar.  We  had  expected  to  be  overwhelmed 
at  sight  of  some  sharp,  tremendous,  towering  shape — 
some  magnified  Matterhorn.  What  we  beheld  was 
like  a  section  of  a  snowy  range — a  culminating  sec- 
tion of  that  range,  perhaps — but  not  a  sharply  de- 
fined peak.  Yet  we  were  looking  at  the  highest  crest 
of  the  Western  Hemisphere.  Everything  about  us 
was  on  a  scale  so  vast  that  even  Aconcagua  was 
dwarfed  by  the  tremendous  setting." 

The  next  great  division  of  the  range  is 
defined  on  the  north  by  the  Maipo  Pass  and 
by  Las  Demas  Pass  on  the  south.  Its  princi- 
pal heights  are  between  16,000  and  17,000 
feet.  From  Las  Demas  on,  few  are  over 
10,000  feet,  and,  beyond  Copahue,  near  the 
source  of  the  Bio-bio  River,  the  average  is 
about  9000.  Beyond  the  volcano  Tronador 
(the  Thunderer),  in  the  latitude  of  Lake 
Llanquihue,  and  as  far  as  Lake  Buenos  Aires, 
it  consists  of  a  series  of  Swisslike  mountains, 
still  decreasing  in  height,  but  with  an  oc- 
casional high  peak,  such  as  San  Valentin 
(12,720  feet),  and  glaciers  growing  ever 
larger  and  more  numerous.  San  Valentin 
towers  in  the  midst  of  an  elevated  ice  field 
eighty  miles  long  and  thirty  wide  and  sends 
down  two  great  glacial  streams,  one  to  the 

284 


CHILE 

south  and  the  other  into  the  San  Rafael  Lake, 
where  the  ice  glides  along  the  bottom  until  it 
breaks  into  fragments  that  drift  away  in  the 
channel  of  Morelada.  All  these  places  can 
now  be  reached  by  railroad  or  steamer. 

No  conception  of  the  Chilean  country  as 
a  whole  can  be  formed,  however,  unless  it  is 
understood  that  it  is  naturally  divided  into 
zones,  as  characteristically  dissimilar  as  are  the 
various  grand  divisions  of  the  United  States. 
For  instance,  there  is  the  Magellan  and 
Puegian  region,  where,  to  the  east  of  the 
mountain  ranges,  the  great  Argentine  pampa 
extends  clear  down  through  Tierra  del  Fuego, 
and  where,  as  the  climate  is  too  rigorous  to 
invite  agricultural  pursuits,  the  principal  in- 
dustry, and  the  only  important  one,  aside 
from  a  small  amount  of  lumbering  and  gold 
mining,  is  the  raising  of  herds  of  sheep  and 
cattle.  With  the  exception  of  the  ranchers 
and  the  ten  or  twelve  thousand  people  of 
Punta  Arenas — which  is  the  only  port  of  call 
in  these  parts,  and  is,  therefore,  the  dis- 
tributing and  shipping  point  for  all  the  enor- 
mous expanse  of  country  round  about,  includ- 
ing the  southern  section  of  Argentine  Pata- 
gonia— the  inhabitants  are  of  the  lower  order 

285 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

of  Indians  and  live  in  the  forests,  supporting 
themselves  by  hunting  and  fishing,  just  as 
they  did  before  they  ever  saw  or  heard  of  a 
white  man. 

Then  there  is  the  island,  lake,  and  forest 
region  between  Smyth  Channel,  say,  and 
Valdivia.  In  the  southern  part,  the  princi- 
pal industries  are  lumbering  and  fishing,  but 
in  the  north,  especially  in  the  Province  of 
Chiloe  (both  the  island  and  mainland)  and  in 
Llanquihue,  there  are  also  wheat  and  barley 
fields,  and  the  fruit,  dairy,  and  cattle-raising 
industries  rank  ahead  of  the  timber  and  fish- 
ing, though  in  Chiloe  this  last  is  among  the 
most  important.  The  inhabitants  are  mostly 
immigrants,  mestizos,,  and  Indians,  though  of 
a  better  and  far  more  amenable  class  than  the 
races  farther  south.  Most  of  them  are  de- 
scendants of  those  famous  Araucanians,  whom 
it  took  nearly  four  hundred  years  to  subdue. 
Here,  throughout  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
country,  in  the  uplands  as  well  as  near  the 
coast,  is  the  towering  alerce  (the  Chilean 
pine),  often  two  hundred  feet  high,  sometimes 
two  hundred  and  fifty,  which  has  a  superb 
white  trunk,  varying  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet 
in  diameter,  according  to  height — the  rival  of 

286 


CHILE 

the  California  giant  redwoods — and  here  is  the 
dingue,  that  resembles  the  mighty  German 
oak,  and  supplies  wood  for  railroad  cars, 
carriages,  casks,  and  ship-building,  of  won- 
derful toughness  and  durability.  There  are 
cypress,  walnut,  cedar,  ash,  beech,  and  others 
excellent  for  general  building  and  cabinet 
purposes,  too,  and  other  species  of  value  for 
their  barks. 

Then,  from  Valdivia  north  through  the 
Province  of  Coquimbo,  comes  the  great  cen- 
tral valley,  which  is  excelled  by  few,  if  any, 
of  the  temperate  agricultural  regions  of  the 
world.  It  is  here,  of  course,  that  the  princi- 
pal centers  of  population  are  located — Val- 
paraiso, the  most  important  seaport  south  of 
San  Francisco,  and  Santiago,  the  capital,  and 
the  ports  of  Concepcion  and  La  Serena,  or  Co- 
quimbo. In  this  region  all  the  cereals,  fruits, 
and  vegetables  are  produced  in  abundance. 
There  are  immense  vineyards  and  sugar-beet 
and  tobacco  plantations,  stock  and  dairy  farms, 
copper,  silver,  and  coal  mines,  and  factories 
of  almost  every  description. 

North  of  Coquimbo  are  the  desert  provinces 
of  Atacama,  Antofagasta,  Tarapaca,  and 
Tacna,  where  the  rain  so  seldom  falls  that  no 

287 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

useful  vegetation  can  thrive  except  in  a  few 
places  where  irrigation  is  possible,  yet  which 
are  the  chief  source  of  Chile's  revenue  and 
wealth.  These  constitute  the  fourth,  or  al- 
most exclusively  mineral  zone,  and,  aside  from 
their  gold  and  silver  and  copper,  contain  the 
famous  nitrate  of  soda  beds,  the  only  known 
extensive  deposit  of  the  kind  in  the  world, 
though  here  they  are  found  thickly  scattered 
over  a  strip  four  hundred  and  sixty  miles 
long,  averaging  about  three  miles  in  width. 
Every  year  more  than  2,000,000  tons  (in  1910 
it  was  2,367,000  tons,  worth  $86,018,000)  are 
exported  to  fertilize  the  fields  and  make  the 
gunpowder  of  Europe  and  the  United  States, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  iodine  and  other  by- 
products extracted  in  the  process  of  prepara- 
tion. "Plants  make  use  of  nitrogen  only 
when  it  is  present  in  the  soil  in  the  form  of 
nitrates,"  says  the  Pan  American  Bulletin 
(Review  Number,  August,  1911)  — 

"And  nitrate  of  soda  is  the  only  fertilizer  that  con- 
tains this  food  in  a  suitable  and  available  form.  The 
manner  of  using  it,  once  it  is  applied,  is  the  subject 
of  technical,  agricultural  chemistry,  but  every  year 
it  is  better  understood  and  results  are  more  satisfac- 
tory. On  the  first  discovery  of  the  value  of  nitrate, 
it  was  scattered  promiscuously  in  the  soil  in  its  crude 

288 


CHILE 

form,  just  as  it  was  taken  from  the  beds  in  Chile. 
As  the  industry  advanced,  it  was  found  that  it  was 
more  economical  to  export  a  purer  mineral,  and  that, 
also,  the  purer  the  mineral,  the  more  plant  nourish- 
ment it  offered,  provided-  that  the  need  of  the  plant 
was  carefully  investigated.  The  results  have  been  a 
more  highly  developed  agriculture  and  the  saving  of 
certain  by-products,  of  which  iodine  is  one,  the  profit 
from  which  aids  the  manufacture.  Another  use  for 
nitrate  is  in  the  manufacture  of  nitric  acid,  and,  ulti- 
mately, of  many  kinds  of  explosives.  .  .  . 

"Saltpeter,  or  nitrate  of  soda,  is  found  mixed  with 
other  substances.  The  beds  contain  four  layers  of 
material,  the  next  lowest  being  that  of  the  nitrate 
itself.  Above  this  are  the  chuca,  on  the  surface, 
which  is  nothing  more  than  the  accumulation  of  ages ; 
the  costra  beneath,  a  harder  and  older  mass,  but  still 
a  somewhat  worthless  debris ;  the  caliche,  the  real 
nitrate  of  soda,  and,  finally,  the  stratum  of  bed  rock 
called  gova.  To  obtain  the  nitrate,  a  shaft  is  sunk 
to  the  gova,  on  which  powder  is  placed  and  exploded ; 
the  overlying  mass  is  thrown  up  and  the  caliche  con- 
taining the  nitrate  scattered  over  the  ground.  This 
is  then  collected  and  taken  to  the  refining  works  for 
preparation  into  refined  or  almost  pure  nitrate  of 
soda,  ready  for  export.  In  the  oficinas"  (refining 
works)  "machinery  of  the  most  economical  and  effec- 
tive pattern  is  used,  and  the  methods  of  refining  the 
salt  are  according  to  the  best  researches  of  industrial 
chemistry.  The  same  is  true  of  the  facilities  for 
transportation  to  the  steamer.  Many  small  but  well- 
equipped  railways  are  in  operation  in  the  fields,  and 
they  carry  the  product  to  the  coast  towns,  from  which 
they  are  finally  shipped  abroad.  .  .  .  Great  Britain 

289 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

takes  about  forty  per  cent.,  Germany  and  the  United 
States  each  about  twenty  per  cent.,  France  about  ten 
per  cent.,  and  the  remainder  goes  to  such  far-away 
places  as  Egypt,  Japan,  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  and 
Australia.  In  fact,  without  nitrate  the  great  agri- 
cultural producers  cannot  advance." 

And  it  is  well  for  Chile  that  these  nitrate 
deposits  have  proven  of  such  great  value — 
they  were  acquired  only  at  the  cost  of  a  long 
and  expensive  war.  Formerly  the  Province 
of  Antofagasta  belonged  to  Bolivia  and  the 
Provinces  of  Tarapaca  and  Tacna  to  Peru. 
The  dividing  line  between  Chile  and  Bolivia, 
it  appears,  had  always  been  a  bone  of  conten- 
tion, and,  in  1866,  while  these  republics  were 
allied  in  a  war  with  Spain,  a  treaty  had  been 
entered  into  between  them,  fixing  a  boundary 
and  agreeing  that  the  citizens  of  either  should 
have  the  right  to  engage  in  mining  operations 
in  the  territory  of  the  other,  and  export  the 
products  free  of  all  taxation,  within  a  certain 
limited  area.  It  appears  also  that  in  1870 
Bolivia,  for  a  money  consideration,  granted 
to  a  company  composed  of  Chileans  and  Eng- 
lishmen the  right  to  work  the  nitrate  beds 
both  in  and  north  of  the  treaty  area,  also  to 
construct  a  mole  at  the  port -of  Antofagasta 

290 


CHILE 

and  a  road  to  Caracoles,  where  rich  silver 
mines  had  been  discovered.  The  mole  was 
constructed  and  not  only  a  road  but  a  rail- 
road, and  the  company  is  said  to  have  invested 
heavily  in  various  plants  for  the  preparation 
of  the  nitrate  and  the  reduction  of  the  silver 
ore.  As  a  result,  as  it  was  contended,  it  was 
Chilean  and  British  capital,  and  principally 
Chilean  energy  and  labor  that  developed  the 
wealth  of  the  region. 

It  further  appears  that,  in  1873,  Bolivia  and 
Peru  had  entered  into  a  secret  alliance,  by  the 
terms  of  which  each  was  to  protect  the  others 
independence  and  territorial  integrity  from 
foreign  aggression,  and  that  in  1874  another 
treaty  between  Chile  and  Bolivia  was  negoti- 
ated, having  in  view  the  settlement  of  certain 
differences,  but  which  the  Bolivian  Congress 
had  refused  to  ratify  except  on  condition  that 
an  export  duty  on  nitrates  should  thereafter 
be  paid.  Chile  remonstrated,  contending  that 
such  a  tax  would  be  in  violation  of  the  treaty 
of  1866.  Bolivia,  it  was  charged,  sought  to 
impose  it  nevertheless  and  seized  the  property 
of  the  Chileno-British  company  on  default  in 
payment.  The  situation  having  thus  become 
acute,  Chile  sent  a  fleet  to  protect  the  in- 

291 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

terests  of  her  citizens  and  blockaded  the  port 
of  Antofagasta.  At  this  stage  Peru,  doubly 
concerned  because  of  her  secret  alliance  and 
because  Chileans  had  acquired  rights  in  her 
own  nitrate  fields  in  Tarapaca,  offered  her 
services  as  mediator,  but  no  agreement  could 
be  reached  and  she  became  involved  in  the 
dispute  herself,  and,  because  of  her  more  ac- 
cessible situation,  it  fell  to  her  lot  to  bear  the 
chief  burden  of  the  defence  in  the  war  that 
followed. 

In  spite  of  the  heroic  sacrifices  of  her  offi- 
cers and  the  desperate  courage  with  which 
her  soldiers  fought,  especially  toward  the  last, 
in  nearly  every  battle,  on  both  land  and  sea, 
the  Chileans  were  successful,  and  at  last, 
when  they  had  taken  Lima  itself  and  made 
their  victory  complete,  the  provinces  in  ques- 
tion were  ceded  to  her  provisionally  and  have 
been  developed  to  their  present  importance 
under  her  protection.  The  half-breed  de- 
scendants of  the  Aymaras  and  Incas,  of  which 
the  rank  and  file  of  the  Peruvian  and  Bo- 
livian armies  were  composed,  were  no  match 
for  the  virile  roto,  in  whose  veins  flowed  the 
fiery  blood  of  the  Basque  and  Biscayan 
pioneers,  mingled  with  that  of  the  spirited, 
warlike  aborigines  of  Chile. 

292 


CHILE 

If,  in  making  the  grand  tour  of  the  conti- 
nent one  goes  first  to  Bolivia  and  visits  Chile 
by  way  of  the  railroad  from  La  Paz  instead 
of  going  directly  from  Argentina  over  the 
transandean  road  or  by  steamer  through  the 
Strait  of  Magellan,  one  comes  to  the  end  of 
the  trip  at  this  very  port  of  Antofagasta, 
which  lies  basking  in  the  tropical  sun  on  a 
strip  of  coast  at  the  foot  of  a  low  table-land, 
seven  hundred  miles  north  of  Valparaiso,  in 
the  heart  of  the  rainless  desert.  It  is  very 
different,  this  region,  from  the  bleak  plateau 
up  the  twelve-thousand-foot  slope,  with  its 
llama  trains  and  poncho-clad  natives.  Antofa- 
gasta has  a  population  of  about  20,000,  good 
broad  streets,  and  a  very  businesslike  appear- 
ance. It  is  a  city  that  looks  like  one  of  our 
Western  mining  towns,  and  impresses  one  at 
first  glance  with  its  evidences  of  a  more  vigor- 
ous and  ambitious  civilization.  There  is  a 
large  oficina  for  the  preparation  of  nitrate, 
steam  tramcar  lines,  smelters  for  the  treat- 
ment of  copper  and  silver  ores,  long  rows  of 
barracks  for  the  housing  of  the  laborers,  cor- 
rugated iron  warehouses,  crowds  of  ships  in 
the  offing  taking  on  cargoes  of  nitrate  and 
metals  or  unloading  supplies;  yet  there  are 
a  plaza  and  promenade  and  hotels,  and  most 

293 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

of  the  residences  of  the  officers  of  the  compa- 
nies are  decidedly  attractive. 

For,  in  addition  to  being  a  nitrate  and  min- 
ing port,  this  is  one  of  the  principal  gateways 
through  which  Bolivia's  commodities  still  come 
and  her  own  products  are  sent  out,  and  is  the 
distributing  center  for  the  Chilean  province 
besides,  where  the  land  is  so  barren  that  the 
inhabitants  are  dependent  on  the  outside  world 
for  almost  everything.  There  was  a  time 
when  even  water  had  to  be  imported  into  the 
city  itself — it  used  to  be  said  that  they  drank 
champagne  because  water  was  too  expensive 
— but  not  long  ago  a  conduit  was  constructed 
and  now  it  is  piped  from  the  mountains,  250 
miles  away;  and  they  have  even  brought  soil 
from  the  south  with  which  to  make  gardens  to 
adorn  their  plaza  and  promenade  and  the 
grounds  near  the  club  where  the  Britishers 
have  their  tennis  courts  and  five  o'clock  teas. 
It  is  said  that  of  the  $127,000,000  invested 
in  the  hundred  or  more  oficinas  generally 
throughout  the  region,  $53,500,000  are  Eng- 
lish, $52,500,000  Chilean,  and  the  rest  Ger- 
man; so  here,  of  course,  as  in  the  greater  port 
of  Iquique  in  the  Province  of  Tarapaca,  a 
large  proportion  of  the  people,  other  than  the 

294 


CHILE 


laboring  class,  is  English,  and  certain  it  is 
that  the  brisk,  clean-cut  Anglo-Saxon  is  very 
much  in  evidence,  both  in  town  and  out  along 
the  plants  lining  the  railroad. 


ii 

As  Antofagasta  is  not  connected  with 
Valparaiso  by  railroad,  the  only  practicable 
way  of  getting  there  is  by  steamer.  This  is 
rather  unfortunate  for  the  tourist,  because, 
although  the  accommodations  are  comfort- 
able enough,  the  progress  is  slower  and  what 
is  to  be  seen  along  the  coast  is  nowhere  near  as 
interesting  and  attractive  as  in  the  central  val- 
ley. Except  at  widely  separated  intervals, 
where  the  hills  part  at  the  mouths  of  the  few 
shallow  rivers  or  about  the  bays,  the  shore  all 
the  way  down  is  dominated  by  steep,  rocky 
cliffs,  so  high,  when  the  ship's  course  is  near 
the  coast,  as  to  conceal  the  country  be- 
hind. The  only  signs  of  life  are  where  little 
ports,  usually  mere  clusters  of  tin-roofed 
huts,  are  huddled  on  the  beach,  sometimes 
with  a  railroad  climbing  up  the  cliffs  and 
back  into  the  mining  country  beyond.  Occa- 
sionally there  is  a  city,  such  as  La  Serena; 

295 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

but,  unless  one  has  plenty  of  time  to  spare, 
these  do  not  repay  a  stopover  until  the  next 
boat. 

Valparaiso  (Vale  of  Paradise)  is  built  at 
the  foot  of  a  mountain  ridge,  divided  by  deep 
ravines  into  nineteen  separate  cerros,  or  hills, 
that  slope  down  to  a  wide  bay,  opening  into 
the  sea  on  the  north.  Encircling  the  beach  is 
an  embankment  of  masonry,  called  the  Male- 
con,  which  considerably  broadens  the  water 
front  and  serves  as  a  protection — though 
there  have  been  occasions  when  it  has  not 
proven  a  very  effective  one — from  the  heavy 
seas  that  are  driven  in  by  the  "northers"  dur- 
ing the  two  stormy  winter  months.  The  prin- 
cipal streets  run  parallel  with  the  embank- 
ment and  increase  in  number  in  the  sections 
where  the  cerros  recede,  diminishing  again 
where  they  extend  almost  to  the  water's  edge. 
In  one  section,  away  around  near  the  end, 
there  is  scarcely  room  enough  for  the  tracks  of 
the  railroad  that  connects  the  city  with  its 
beautiful,  fashionable  suburb,  Vina  del  Mar. 
Many  have  their  homes  on  the  terraced  sides 
and  tops  of  the  cerros,  which  are  connected 
one  with  another  by  handsome  bridges  and 
made  accessible  from  the  streets  below  by 

296 


CHILE 

inclined  railways  and  elevators,  so  that,  viewed 
from  the  entrance  to  the  bay,  the  city  has  the 
appearance  of  a  huge  amphitheater. 

The  city  has  a  population  of  nearly  250,- 
000,  but,  as  some  one  else  has  remarked,  "As 
the  principal  port  of  the  west  coast,  and,  in  a 
way,  the  'downtown'  for  the  capital  and  the 
rest  of  Chile,  Valparaiso  seems  more  im- 
portant than  its  mere  population  would  indi- 
cate, and,  although  the  newspapers  and  street 
signs  are  in  Spanish  and  Spanish  is  the  lan- 
guage generally  spoken,  it  has  little  of  the 
look  of  the  old  Spanish- American  town."  A 
large  element  of  the  population  is  foreign. 
The  Germans  are  said  to  have  the  largest 
colony  and  the  Italians  and  French  to  come 
next  in  order.  These  are  mostly  retail  mer- 
chants of  the  better  class;  but  it  is  here  also 
that  the  men  live  who  design  and  control  the 
vast  nitrate  and  mining  enterprises  in  the 
north  and  the  capitalists  who  finance  the  big 
industrial  projects  and  railway  development, 
the  exporters  and  importers,  bankers,  brokers, 
and  insurance  men,  and  among  these  the  ten 
or  twelve  thousand  English  in  the  city  pre- 
dominate. The  better-educated  class  of  Chil- 
eans speak  English  as  well  as  Spanish  and 

297 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

French.  The  French  have  almost  a  monop- 
oly of  the  retail  trade  having  to  do  with  fash- 
ionable apparel  and  luxuries,  for  Paris  has 
always  been  the  Mecca  of  the  smart  set  here 
and  in  Santiago,  just  as  it  has  in  Rio  de 
Janeiro  and  Buenos  Aires. 

Although  there  are  parts  of  the  city  that 
still  retain  something  of  the  old-world  aspect, 
the  buildings  generally  are  modern — many  of 
them  new,  since  it  had  to  be  largely  rebuilt 
after  the  great  earthquake  in  1906,  which  was 
relatively  as  disastrous  there  as  the  one  in  San 
Francisco  of  the  same  year  was  to  our  prin- 
cipal Pacific  port.  There  are  few  tall  build- 
ings and  no  skyscrapers,  yet  the  main  busi- 
ness street,  the  Calle  Victoria,  which  parallels 
the  Malecon  almost  the  entire  length,  pre- 
sents an  array  of  government  buildings, 
banks,  hotels,  theaters,  cafes,  retail  shops,  and 
office  buildings  larger  and  more  substantial 
and  elaborate  than  can  be  seen  almost  any- 
where in  cities  of  that  size.  The  shops  are  of 
good  size,  and  leave  nothing  to  be  desired  in 
the  way  of  assortment  and  quality  of  their 
stocks.  Probably  the  most  attractive  of  all 
the  streets  is  the  Avenida  Brazil,  which  is 
at  once  a  shaded  boulevard,  business  thor- 

298 


CHILE 

oughfare,  and  fashionable  promenade.  There 
are  trolley  cars — with  women  conductors — 
and  arc  lights,  libraries,  first-class  educational 
institutions,  beautiful  parks  and  plazas  where 
they  have  public  band  concerts  in  the  even- 
ings, attractive  residence  districts,  and  near 
by,  at  Vina  del  Mar,  there  are  sea  bathing, 
tennis,  racing,  football,  golf,  country  clubs, 
and  a  first-class  hotel  for  those  who  are  not 
so  fortunate  as  to  have  their  own  houses. 
Only  about  sixty  miles  away  (though  it  is 
farther  by  the  railroad,  which  has  to  make  a 
detour  to  get  through  the  coast  range)  is 
the  capital,  Santiago,  the  real  metropolis  of 
the  country. 

"Santiago,  the  Andean  city  of  the  snow 
white  crown,"  as  Marie  Robinson  Wright 
was  moved  to  describe  it — 


"Is  unique  in  the  charm  of  her  unconventional 
beauty  and  the  rugged  splendor  of  her  surroundings. 
Like  a  queen  in  the  giant  castle  that  nature  has  given 
her,  with  walls  of  the  imperishable  granites  of  the 
Cordilleras  and  towers  reaching  to  the  skies,  she  seems 
created  for  the  homage  of  those  who  gaze  upon  her. 
Her  face  is  toward  the  sunset,  as  if  in  expectation 
of  the  high  destiny  that  awaits  this  land  of  promise  in 
the  golden  west  of  South  America;  and,  from  the 
snowy  peaks  behind  her,  marked  clear  against  the 

299 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

blue  sky,  to  the  farthest  limit  westward,  bordered  by 
the  boundless  Pacific,  there  is  no  alien  territory  to 
limit  the  prospect  of  her  fair  domain.  Her  jewels, 
rare  and  resplendent,  are  the  rich  emerald  of  the 
Andean  valleys,  the  matchless  sapphire  of  Andean 
skies,  the  pure  diamonds  of  Andean  streams.  Her 
royal  robes  are  woven  of  the  marvelous  purple  and 
gold  of  Andean  sunsets,  unrivaled  in  brilliancy,  and 
imparting  to  her  gracious  beauty  the  glow  of  infinite 
loveliness,  as  they  envelop  her  utterly,  catching  even 
the  snowy  peaks  of  her  sovereign  diadem  in  their 
magic  folds." 


Nor  is  this  in  the  least  overdrawn.  No  city 
could  be  more  delightfully  situated.  It  lies 
in  the  great  central  valley,  on  a  plateau  forty 
miles  long  and  about  twenty  wide, .  nearly 
two  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
where  the  climate  is  as  perfect  as  that  in  the 
Pyrenees,  and  is  almost  completely  enclosed 
by  a  magnificent  border  of  mountains.  Lu- 
zerne  and  other  show  places  in  Switzerland 
are  mere  miniatures  compared  with  it.  The 
level  portion  of  the  ground  is  highly  culti- 
vated with  all  sorts  of  fruits  and  crops  that 
grow  in  the  temperate  zone  and  is  divided 
into  large  haciendas  or  plantations,  nearly 
all  with  fine  cattle  and  horse-breeding  farms 
attached,  and  princely  mansions  as  of  feudal 

300 


CHILE 

lords,  and  there  are  splendid  avenues  of 
giant  eucalyptus  along  the  roads  and  sepa- 
rating the  fields.  In  the  heart  of  the  city 
itself  is  a  hill  called  El  Cerro  de  Santa  Lucia, 
that  rises  to  a  height  of  three  hundred  feet 
and  is  half  as  big  around  as  Central  Park  in 
New  York,  a  spot  which  such  a  connoisseur 
as  William  E.  Curtis  declared  he  had 
"long  held  to  be  the  prettiest  place  in  the 
world."  The  summit  is  reached  by  a  num- 
ber of  winding  driveways  and  walks,  lined 
with  trees,  flowering  shrubs  and  overhanging 
vines  and  flanked  by  battlemented  walls  and 
towers,  picturesque  beyond  description;  there 
are  terraces  ornamented  with  flower  beds  and 
fountains,  and  grottos,  balconies,  and  rustic 
seats;  all  along,  at  intervals,  are  kiosks  for 
music  and  refreshments;  half  way  up  is  a 
theater  where  light  opera  and  vaudeville  per- 
formances are  given  both  afternoons  and 
evenings;  a  little  farther  on  is  a  restaurant 
that  is  a  favorite  resort  for  breakfasting  and 
dining  out,  and,  best  of  all,  from  the  summit 
there  is  a  glorious  view  of  the  whole  country 
around. 

Across  the  city  from  Santa  Lucia  to  the 
Central  Railroad  depot,  an  avenue  called  the 

301 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Alameda  de  las  Delicias  extends  for  a  dis- 
tance of  three  miles.  It  is  three  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  wide  and  all  down  the  center  is  a 
beautiful  park  containing  statues  and  monu- 
ments to  Chile's  heroes.  It  is  her  hall  of 
fame,  not  shut  in  by  four  walls,  but  placed 
in  the  midst  of  this  most  frequented  of  her 
promenades,  among  the  trees  and  flowers 
and  the  fountains  and  lakes,  where  "the 
stories  told  in  marble  and  bronze  may  inspire 
the  multitude  to  patriotism  and  courage;" 
and,  facing  the  driveways  along  the  sides,  are 
many  of  the  handsomest  of  "the  residences. 
The  old  center  of  the  city  is  marked  by  the 
famous  Plaza  de  Armas,  with  a  marble  mon- 
ument representing  South  America  receiving 
her  baptism  of  fire  in  the  war  of  independ- 
ence. On  one  side  are  the  Cathedral  and 
Bishop's  Palace,  on  another  the  splendid 
Municipal  and  Intendencia  Buildings,  low 
and  massive,  and  Government  Telegraph  Of- 
fice; on  another,  two  long  series  of  shops 
opening  out  on  fine  arcades  that  extend  the 
whole  length  of  the  sidewalks  from  corner  to 
corner. 

Opposite    the    Plaza    O'Higgins,    a    few 
blocks    away,    is    the    Congressional    Palace, 

302 


CHILE 

which  occupies  the  whole  square  and  is  one 
of  the  largest  and  handsomest  buildings  in 
South  America.  In  architectural  design  it 
looks  somewhat  like  the  Senate  and  House 
wings  of  our  Capitol  at  Washington,  only  of 
course  it  is  much  larger  than  either  mere 
wing;  and  in  the  same  district  is  the  Casa  de 
Moneda  (the  Mint),  in  which  the  President 
and  Cabinet  have  their  offices,  a  massive  struc- 
ture as  big  as  our  Washington  Treasury,  and 
the  beautiful  Palace  of  Fine  Arts. 

It  is  around  the  plaza  that  society  takes  its 
customary  stroll  in  the  evenings  and  the 
dusky-eyed,  black-haired  senoritas,  according 
to  the  Latin  custom,  flirt  as  much  as  they  dare 
with  the  young  exquisites,  who  frankly  and 
boldly  admire  with  glances  more  eloquent 
than  words.  Writing  of  this  custom,  which 
would  not  be  tolerated  in  our  cities,  Arthur 
Ruhl  says  that — 

"They  are  dapper  and  very  confident  young  men" 
(these  oglers),  "combining  in  their  demeanor  the  gal- 
lantry of  their  Spanish  inheritance  with  a  certain 
bumptiousness  rather  characteristically  Chilean. 
They  stare  at  those  who  pass — some  in  mantos,  some 
in  French  dresses  with  Paris  hats — and  in  Spanish 
murmur,  half  audibly,  such  observations  as,  'I  like 
the  blonde  best,'  or  'Give  me  the  little  one.'  And,  as 

303 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

they  still  retain  some  of  that  simplicity  which  in  the 
interior  causes  a  stranger  to  be  watched  as  though 
he  were  a  camel  or  a  calliope,  they  will  stare  even  at 
the  gringo,  comment  on  the  cut  of  his  clothes  or 
facetiously  compare  his  blunt  walking  boots  with 
their  long,  thin  ones.  They  are  rather  irritating 
sometimes,  especially  the  young  officers  in  their  smart 
German  uniforms,  and  one  dreams  of  home  and  a 
Broadway  policeman  marching  down  upon  them 
leisurely  with  a  night-stick  and  fanning  them  away." 

Though  why  he  should  have  mentioned 
a  "blonde"  in  illustrating  their  comments,  one 
must  wonder.  Maybe  it  was  because  there 
are  so  few.  As  a  rule  their  hair  and  eyes,  if 
not  black,  are  a  dark,  rich  brown,  and  their 
complexion  of  the  clear,  cream-tinted,  bru- 
nette type.  "But,"  he  continues — 

"The  young  women  do  not  mind  it  at  all.  .  .  . 
And  you  will  not  make  yourself  at  all  popular  by 
sympathizing,  for  they  would  only  laugh  and  say: 
'Oh,  they're  all  right.  That's  only  their  way  of  be- 
ginning. They're  quite  sensible  and  nice  when  you 
come  to  know  them.'  There  are  ways  and  ways,  and 
in  South  America  a  girl  who  may  not  receive  a  formal 
call  from  a  man  without  having  her  mother  and  half 
the  family  in  the  room  at  the  same  time  may  blandly 
listen  to  repartee  that  would  make  our  maidens  gasp 
for  breath.  ...  It  is  at  dusk,  particularly  if  the 
band  is  playing,  or  if  it  is  Sunday,  that  the  prom- 
enade begins  round  the  Plaza — a  row  of  spectators 

304 


CHILE 

on  the  inside  benches,  on  the  outside  young  idlers  and 
officers  two  or  three  deep — between  two  shuffling  con- 
centric circles,  in  one  of  which  are  the  men,  in  the 
other  the  shrinking  senoritas,  two  by  two,  or  hang- 
ing on  the  arm  of  a  protector.  Every  man  who  can 
sport  a  top-hat  and  a  pair  of  saffron  gloves,  if  it 
is  Sunday,  and  all  the  women  except  the  very  austere 
ones,  gather  here  and  circle  round  in  that  armed 
neutrality  of  the  sexes  which  is  the  tradition  of  their 
blood." 

In  general  style  Santiago  is  not  as  mod- 
ern as  Valparaiso,  though  it  is  far  more  in- 
teresting and  attractive,  and  is  not  behind 
in  public  utilities,  educational  facilities,  and 
energy — or  in  the  attractiveness  of  their 
street-car  service,  for  here,  too,  the  conduc- 
tors are  neatly  uniformed  women,  lots  of 
them  young  and  good-looking.  Many  of  the 
more  pretentious  residences  are  old  family 
mansions  of  the  Moorish,  characteristically 
Spanish  colonial  type  and,  therefore,  charm- 
ing to  a  stranger  from  the  north.  Most  of 
them  are  like  those  described  in  the  chapter  on 
Uruguay — built  around  a  large  square  central 
court  or  patio,  filled  with  flower-beds  and 
palms  and  with  galleries  around  the  sides  onto 
which  the  rooms  of  the  upper  stories  open. 
These  galleries  serve  the  same  purpose  as  our 

305 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

interior  hallways.  They  are  usually  sup- 
ported by  substantial  but  graceful  stone 
arches  and  piers,  and  are  reached  by  handsome 
stairways,  also  of  stone,  leading  up  from  the 
court.  Very  often  there  is  a  fountain  and 
sometimes  statuary,  and  through  the  big  gate- 
ways when  the  ponderous  iron-studded  doors 
happen  to  be  open,  delicious  glimpses  may  be 
caught  in  passing.  The  windows  opening  on 
the  streets  are  usually  heavily  barred,  and  the 
outer  walls  are  in  many  cases  frescoed  and 
tinted  and  ornamented  with  wreaths  and  vases 
of  stucco.  Some  few  of  the  great  houses  are 
massive  stone  affairs  of  modern  construction 
that  resemble  the  mansions  on  the  fashionable 
residence  streets  of  our  principal  northern 
cities. 

Like  all  the  greater  South  American  towns, 
Santiago  has  her  museums,  libraries,  magnifi- 
cent municipal  theater  and  places  of  popular 
amusement;  and  she  has  her  clubs  and  race- 
course and  public  gatherings  of  the  fashion- 
ables, who  are  as  elegantly  dressed  and  smart- 
looking  as  those  of  Buenos  Aires — though  she 
still  has  her  religious  processions  too  on  the 
great  feast  days,  and  all  the  ladies  still  wear 
their  black,  shroudlike  mantos  to  church. 

306 


CHILE 

Disfiguring  and  funereal  as  it  is,  this  is  art 
observance  that  is  still  insisted  on  by  the 
priests.  In  short,  though  differing  from  our 
capitals  in  many  respects,  this  greatest  city  in 
Chile  is  obviously  a  metropolis  and  offers  op- 
portunities for  sightseeing  and  amusements 
of  every  description  that  few  cities  in  the 
world  can  surpass.  And,  as  in  Lima,  there 
is  an  aristocracy  here,  descended  directly  from 
the  old  Conquistadore  stock,  that  has  retained 
its  wealth  and  power  in  the  land  through  all 
the  vicissitudes  of  both  the  colonial  and  re- 
publican regimes. 

in 

The  long  series  of  groups  of  islands  be- 
ginning with  Chiloe,  about  two-thirds  of  the 
way  down  the  coast,  is  said  to  be  nothing 
more  than  a  partly  submerged  section  of  the 
Western  Cordillera.  Above  the  surface  of 
the  water,  for  a  distance  of  about  eighty 
miles,  they  still  have  an  average  elevation  of 
about  two  thousand  feet.  Embraced  in  the 
Chonos  Archipelago,  between  Chiloe  and  the 
Taytao  Peninsula,  are  more  than  a  thou- 
sand small  islands,  rocks,  and  reefs,  and  then 
come  the  large  islands  of  Wellington,  Madre 

307 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

de  Dios,  Chatham,  Hanover,  Queen  Ade- 
laide, King  William's  Land,  etc.,  each  fringed 
by  groups  of  little  ones  and  all  following  the 
mainland  in  a  graceful  curve  and  separated 
from  it  by  the  Messier,  Sarmiento,  and 
Smyth  Channels,  which,  together,  extend  for 
three  hundred  and  sixty  miles,  from  the 
Penas  Gulf  to  the  Strait  of  Magellan.  As 
the  steamer  glides  through,  at  times  so 
straight  are  they  and  such  is  the  uniformity 
of  the  shore  line  on  either  side,  one  fancies 
one's  self  in  a  wide  river  in  the  interior  of  the 
continent;  at  others,  when  openings  among 
the  islands  appear  and  the  water  stretches 
for  miles  toward  the  sea  or  far  into  the  re- 
cesses of  the  Cordillera,  it  seems  more  like  a 
great  lake. 

The  fjordlike  formations  recall  the  more 
celebrated  channel  off  the  coast  of  Norway 
leading  to  the  North  Cape.  Indeed,  it  is 
generally  agreed  by  those  who  have  seen  both 
that  there  is  little  to  choose  between  them, 
for,  in  both,  the  indentations  and  mountains 
of  the  coast  and  islands  are  similar  in  charac- 
ter; if  there  is  less  variety  in  the  Chilean  one, 
if  the  rainstorms  are  more  frequent,  to  com- 
pensate for  it  there  is  a  much  greater  and 

308 


CHILE 

more  attractive  wealth  of  vegetation.  From 
the  water's  edge  to  a  height  of  fourteen  or 
fifteen  hundred  feet,  the  slopes,  and  even  the 
smaller  islands,  are  covered  with  an  unbroken 
mantle  of  beautiful,  dense,  green  forest  that 
presents  an  astonishing  contrast,  in  this  in- 
hospitable region,  to  the  bleak,  gray  rocks 
and  bluish-tinted  ice  sheets  above  and  the 
pure  white  snow  caps  on  the  summits  be- 
yond. 

In  the  country  from  Valdivia  south  to 
Smyth  Channel,  many  of  the  trees,  partic- 
ularly in  the  ravines  and  sheltered  places,  are 
tall  and  shapely  and  their  trunks  and  lower 
branches  are  incrusted  with  mosses  and  en- 
twined with  flowering  creepers  and  vines, 
many  with  a  sort  of  mistletoe  that  has  clus- 
ters of  dark-red  blossoms;  one  of  the  creep- 
ers, called  angel's  hair,  is  delicate  and  filmy 
and  hangs  from  the  branches  like  threads  of 
lace,  and  there  is  an  undergrowth  of  ferns 
and  shrubs  and  bamboo.  These  last  often 
shoot  up  as  far  as  the  tops  of  the  trees  and 
seem  to  mat  them  together  so  that  they  form 
arbors  over  the  pathways  between.  Farther 
south  and  in  the  region  of  the  Strait,  these 
woods  lose  something  of  their  mysterious 

309 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

beauty;  here  they  are  composed  principally 
of  antarctic  beech,  gnarled  and  bent  by  the 
winds,  and  the  thicketlike  undergrowth  is 
somber  and  forbidding. 

Emerging  from  the  channel,  for  the  first 
time  the  steamer  encounters  heavy  rollers, 
which  come  dashing  in  through  the  broad 
gateway  to  the  Pacific,  not  far  to  the  west. 
Here,  even  in  summer,  it  is  seldom  that  there 
is  neither  storm  nor  fog,  but,  when  it  is  clear 
enough,  one  can  see  the  tempest-torn  promon- 
tory of  Cape  Pillar,  at  the  end  of  Desolation 
Island,  the  southwestern  portal  of  the  Strait. 
Eastward  the  conditions  improve;  the  water 
grows  smooth  again  and  the  clouds  are  usu- 
ally lifted  above  the  lower  mountain  tops ;  the 
scenery  grows  still  more  impressive  than  in 
the  channel — only  it  is  solemnly  impressive 
now — at  least,  so  it  strikes  most  travelers. 
The  Strait  is  much  wider;  the  steamer  is  far 
enough  away  from  the  shore  to  enable  one 
to  see  above  the  shoulders  of  the  mountains 
to  their  summits,  yet  not  so  far  that  the  dis- 
tance renders  them  too  indistinct;  the  water 
is  steel  gray,  the  bases  and  buttresses  of  the 
mountains  take  on  a  shade  of  purple,  the 
summits  seem  whiter  than  ever,  and  over  all, 

310 


CHILE 

except  during  the  comparatively  rare  inter- 
vals when  the  sun  shines,  are  leaden  clouds. 
In  the  center  of  the  Strait,  where  the  conti- 
nent proper  comes  to  a  wedge-shaped  point 
known  as  Cape  Froward,  and  up  to  the  east- 
ern arm,  only  a  few  miles  away,  lies  Punta 
Arenas,  the  southernmost  city  in  the  world. 

In  the  jumble  of  ranges  forming  the 
transmagellan  continuation  of  the  great  Cor- 
dillera of  the  Andes,  the  most  important  is 
that  named  after  the  scientist,  Charles  Dar- 
win, who  was  the  first  to  explore  it,  on  the 
long  western  arm  of  the  Island  of  Tierra 
del  Fuego.  The  highest  and  most  conspicu- 
ous happens  to  be  the  nearest  to  this  remark- 
able port,  and,  as  no  better  idea  of  the  region 
in  general  could  be  conveyed,  it  seems  to  me, 
I  quote  from  the  story  of  a  visit  to  Mt.  Sar- 
miento,  made  by  Sir  Martin  Conway  the 
same  summer  he  climbed  Aconcagua,  rather 
than  attempt  a  description  myself.  He  says: 

"The  sun  was  shining  quite  hotly  and  the  ice  was 
almost  dazzlingly  brilliant.  After  scrambling  with 
difficulty  onto  the  glacier  and  wandering  about  the 
moraine  area,  we  returned  toward  the  shore,  finding 
an  exit  through  the  forest  at  a  much  narrower  place. 
The  air  was  cool,  the  sun  bright;  there  were  little 

311 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

puffs  of  breeze ;  it  was  the  very  perfection  of  a  day 
for  active  open-air  life.  Yet  the  clouds  still  hung 
stationary  on  the  summit  of  Sarmiento.  We  lay 
awhile  on  the  shore  beside  the  rippling  waters ;  then 
rowed  away  in  hopes  of  seeing  our  mountain's  misty 
veil  lifted  if  only  for  a  moment.  The  long,  late  mid- 
summer sunset  was  at  hand.  A  tender  pink  light, 
far  fainter  than  the  rich  radiance  of  the  Alpine  glow, 
lay  upon  the  surface  of  the  glacier  and  empurpled  its 
crevasses ;  it  permeated  the  mist  aloft.  The  cruel 
rocks,  incrusted  with  ice,  and  the  roof  of  the  final 
precipice,  with  its  steep  ridges  and  icy  couloirs,  were 
all  that  could  be  seen.  The  graceful,  ice-rounded 
foundation  rocks  of  this  and  all  the  other  mountains 
around  slope  up  to  the  cliff  and  jagged  aretes  above 
and  make  each  peak  beautiful  with  contrasted  forms, 
massive,  yet  suave  of  outline  beneath,  splintered  and 
aspiring  above.  In  one  direction  we  looked  along  the 
channel  of  our  approach,  in  another,  for  twenty  miles 
or  so,  along  Cockburn  Channel,  with  a  fine  range  of 
snowy  peaks  beside  it,  prolonging  Sarmiento's  west- 
ern range. 

"The  water  was  absolutely  still;  we  floated  with 
oars  drawn  in.  Looking  once  more  aloft,  I  found 
the  mist  grown  thinner.  The  pink  light  crept  higher 
and  higher  as  the  cloud  dissolved.  Suddenly — so 
suddenly  that  all  who  saw  it  cried  out — far  above  this 
cloud,  surprisingly,  incredibly  high,  appeared  a  point 
of  light  like  a  glowing  coal  drawn  from  a  furnace. 
The  fiery  glow  crept  down  and  down  as  though  driv- 
ing the  mist  away,  till  there  stood  before  us,  as  it 
were,  a  mighty  pillar  of  fire,  with  a  wreath  of  mist 
around  the  base,  and,  down  through  all  the  wonderful 
pink  wall  and  cataract  of  ice  to  the  black  forest  and 

312 


CHILE 

reflecting  water.  We  had  seen  the  final  peak  now — 
a  tower  of  ice-crusted  rock,  utterly  inaccessible  from 
the  western  side.  A  little  while  later,  the  fair  couloir 
had  faded  away,  mists  had  gathered  and  night  was 
coming  on  apace.  We  rowed  away  for  the  steamer, 
but  had  not  gone  very  far  before  a  faint  silver  point 
appeared  above  the  mist  where  the  glowing  tower  had 
stood.  The  cloud  curtain  rolled  slowly  down  again 
and  all  the  summit  crest  was  revealed,  cold  and  pure. 
Then  the  southwest  ridge  appeared,  and  finally  the 
entire  mountain,  like  a  pale  ghost,  illuminated  by 
some  unearthly  light.  A  moment  later  the  clouds 
rolled  together  once  more  and  solid  night  came  on; 
we  hastened  to  the  steamer  for  warmth,  food,  and 
sleep." 


313 


VIII 

PERU 

NORTHWARD  bound  from  Valparaiso 
to  Callao,  the  traveler  leaves  behind 
him  the  last  of  those  south  temperate 
zone  Latins  who  contend  for  the  title  of 
"Yankees  of  South  America."  (And  there 
is  flattery  in  that  pretension  if  they  but  knew 
it,  for  in  the  old  strongholds  of  our  vaunted 
Yankeeism  much  of  the  feverish  progressive- 
ness  has  subsided;  in  these  days  the  title 
" Argentine"  or  "Chileno"  would  confer  a 
real  distinction  on  some  of  us  of  the  North.) 
In  Chile  one  leaves  triumphant  modernism 
and  now  enters  the  realm  of  antiquity  and 
romance,  the  home  of  Spanish  tradition  and 
old-world  stateliness.  Not  even  on  the  Pe- 
ninsula have  the  Spanish  tongue,  the  Span- 
ish dignity  and  the  old  Castilian  ideals  been 
preserved  in  their  pristine  charm  and  per- 
fection as  they  have  in  Lima,  and  the  three 
ancient  seats  of  colonial  splendor  hidden  away 

314 


PERU 

in  the  fastnesses  of  the  northern  Andes — 
Quito,  Bogota  and  Caracas,  the  capitals  of 
the  countries  next  in  order. 

Not  that  romance  and  antiquity  are  all 
that  Peru  and  her  sister  republics  to  the 
north  stand  for  to-day.  If  Argentina,  Uru- 
guay, and  Paraguay,  which  constitute  the 
agricultural  empire  spurned  by  Spain  in 
her  days  of  prosperity,  are,  as  John  Bar- 
rett says  in  the  Independent  for  March  11, 
1909,  destined,  with  Brazil,  "to  become 
deciding  factors  in  the  food  supply  of  man- 
kind," Peru  and  the  other  Andean  republics 
have  also  their  part  to  play  in  furnishing 
elements  necessary  for  the  growing  commerce 
of  the  twentieth  century.  "The  complicated 
social  and  financial  life  of  the  world,"  Mr. 
Barrett  goes  on,  "must  have  something  be- 
sides food  and  drink.  Gold  and  silver  as 
a  medium  of  exchange,  and,  in  the  arts, 
copper  and  tin  as  essentials  in  so  many 
phases  of  industrial  development,  the  other 
metals  useful  in  a  thousand  ways  in  applied 
science,  the  nitrate  salts  for  prime  necessities 
in  both  peace  and  war — all  these  and  much 
more  are  to-day  supplied  in  high  proportion 
from  this  part  of  South  America."  Deprive 

315 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

the  world  of  the  nitrate  of  Chile,  the  copper, 
gold,  and  guano  of  Peru,  and  the  silver  and  tin 
of  Bolivia,  and  "there  would  occur  a  dis- 
turbance in  our  business  machinery  which 
might  have  very  serious  consequences." 

In  preference  to  the  more  direct  German 
line,  the  visitor  should  by  all  means  make  the 
trip  northward  by  a  "west  coaster,"  that  cross 
between  an  Atlantic  liner  and  a  river  steam- 
boat which  meanders  leisurely  in  and  out 
among  the  Pacific  ports  and  carries  a  con- 
glomerate of  all  types  of  the  genus  Latin 
American,  and  of  all  the  products  of  his 
infinitely  varied  soil.  As  one  writer  whim- 
sically describes  it,  it  has  all  the  character- 
istics of  a  house-boat,  freight  carrier,  village 
gossip  and  market  gardener.  With  no  cause 
to  fear  rain  or  rough  weather,  the  ocean  here 
being  truly  "pacific,"  the  builders  of  these 
boats  have  placed  all  cabins  on  deck,  and  even 
thus  they  seem  superfluous  except  as  lockers 
for  luggage,  for  the  heat  keeps  one  always  in 
the  open. 

Here  the  newcomer  to  these  shores  talks 
politics  or  crops  or  railroad  concessions  with 
the  substantial  Tiacendado  returning  to  his 
plantation,  or  haggles  interminably  with  the 

316 


PERU 

cholo  woman  who  offers  for  sale  woven  hats 
of  jipi-japa  straw  (known  commercially  as 
Panamas),  little  golden  images  unearthed 
from  Inca  ruins,  or  imitations  of  them  fash- 
ioned from  vegetable  ivory,  great  white- 
pulped,  juicy  pineapples,  leather  belts  of 
exquisite  workmanship,  brilliantly  colored 
ponchos,  and  the  inevitable  convent  embroid- 
eries and  laces.  These  women  spend  much 
of  their  lives  on  board,  traveling  back  and 
forth  between  Valparaiso  and  Panama,  and 
in  their  allotted  corners  sell  everything  from 
candied  sugar  cane  wrapped  in  banana  leaves 
to  emerald  necklaces.  It  is  said  that  one 
old  woman  on  a  recent  trip  actually  had 
hoisted  aboard  a  live  cow,  which  she  would 
have  sold  piecemeal,  in  steaks,  if  the  long- 
suffering  captain  had  not  protested  that  his 
ship  was  no  slaughter-house. 

And,  besides  the  surfeit  of  "local  color"  one 
gets  on  the  ship,  the  traveler  has  an  excellent 
opportunity  to  study  that  vague  institution 
known  as  international  trade,  at  a  familiarly 
close  range.  The  terms  "exports"  and  "im- 
ports" mean  little  to  him  until  he  sees  huge 
cases  of  sewing  machines  marked  "Hamburg 
— fragile,"  or  sections  of  milling  machinery 

317 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

from  Chicago,  or  something  of  the  sort, 
swung  over  the  side  into  the  lighters,  and 
later  sees  other  lighters  towed  from  shore 
laden  with  curious  little  bales  of  Panama 
hats,  or  cotton,  or  casks  of  rum,  and  all  the, 
to  him,  exotic  products  of  a  different  world. 
Always  wonderful,  the  mighty  ramparts  of 
the  Andes  rise  tier  upon  tier  from  the  reddish 
strip  of  desert  shore,  first  in  solid  black,  then 
in  slaten  pallor  to  the  misty  heights  of  in- 
land distance  where  the  peaks  are  ill-defined 
against  the  sky,  except  when  the  sun  burns 
through  the  haze  and  makes  brilliant  for  a 
moment  some  snow-capped  summit  floating 
apparently  in  mid-air  four  miles  above.  Ever 
northward  the  lazy  coaster  dozes  on  her 
course,  dropping  in  at  Iquique,  parched  and 
stifling,  or  Arica  where  the  sun-baked  ni- 
trate lies  piled  for  shipment  in  such 
quantities  as  fairly  to  blister  the  imag- 
ination, or  Mollendo,  the  other  open  door  to 
Bolivia's  wealth;  and,  finally,  after  a  fort- 
night of  such  coasting,  one  enters  Callao,  the 
port  of  Lima,  which  is  only  nine  miles  away, 
up  the  valley.  Situated  in  the  center  of 
Peru's  coast  line,  Callao  is  the  busy  exchange 
for  the  bulk  of  the  country's  commerce.  Its 

318 


PERU 

population  is  about  35,000.  Most  of  its  busi- 
ness men,  however,  live  in  Lima  and  look 
upon  the  port  city  as  the  Chileans  do  on  Val- 
paraiso, merely  as  the  "down  town"  district 
of  the  capital. 

Arriving  in  port  the  traveler's  thoughts 
instinctively  turn  back  through  the  four  cen- 
turies of  white  dominion  over  the  country; 
and  he  pictures  in  his  mind  the  stirring  trag- 
edies of  Spanish  conquest  and  the  colonial 
regime  in  this  dazzling  colonial  empire  won 
from  the  Incas.  Until  1717  the  Viceroy  of 
Peru  held  sway  over  the  whole  of  South 
America  except  the  then  Portuguese  Col- 
ony of  Brazil.  On  that  date  the  Viceroy alty 
of  Santa  Fe  or  New  Granada  (embracing 
what  is  now  Colombia  and  Ecuador)  and  the 
Captaincy- General  of  Venezuela  were  created 
and  severed  from  his  jurisdiction;  and  in  1776 
it  was  reduced  to  the  dimensions  occupied 
by  the  present  Republic,  by  the  creation  of 
the  Viceroyalty  of  Buenos  Aires,  which  in- 
cluded territory  now  occupied  by  Argentina, 
Uruguay,  Paraguay,  and  Bolivia  (then  known 
as  the  Province  of  Alto  Peru).  The  Cap- 
taincy-General of  Chile  had  always  enjoyed 
a  high  degree  of  autonomy  and  retained  it 

319 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

until  complete  independence  was  gained  by 
the  revolution. 

Although  mightily  shrunken  from  its 
former  imperial  estate,  Peru  is  still  a  mag- 
nificent domain.  Its  area  of  680,000  square 
miles  is  equal  to  the  combined  areas  of  Texas, 
Nevada,  Utah,  Arizona  and  New  Mexico; 
its  coast-line  of  1500  miles  is  as  extensive 
as  our  Atlantic  coast  from  Maine  to  Georgia. 
The  country  is  divided  longitudinally  into 
three  distinct  regions:  the  coast,  the  cordil- 
lera,  and  the  so-called  Montana,  or  wooded 
slopes,  the  latter  stretching  away  into  the 
Amazon  valley.  Along  the  Pacific  coast  is 
a  ribbon  of  dry,  tropical  lowland,  varying  in 
width  from  twenty  to  eighty  miles,  and  reach- 
ing up  to  the  foothills  of  the  coast  range.  On 
these  foothills,  and  increasing  gradually  in 
number,  through  the  extension  of  the  irri- 
gating systems  toward  the  sea,  lie  extensive 
plantations  of  cotton  and  sugar,  which  form  a 
large  part  of  Peru's  exports.  But  the  coastal 
stretches  are,  for  the  most  part,  still  unre- 
claimed desert,  for,  as  in  the  nitrate  region 
of  Chile,  the  rain  falls  so  seldom  that,  with- 
out irrigation,  nothing  can  grow.  The  ex- 
planation given  by  the  scientists  is  that  the 

320 


PERU 

moisture  from  the  Atlantic,  swept  across  the 
continent  by  the  African  trade  winds,  lodges 
finally  in  the  Andes  and  flows  back  over  the 
continental  valleys  in  the  great  rivers  con- 
fluent with  the  Amazon,  while  that  from  the 
Pacific  is  diverted  in  some  other  direction.  It 
has  been  demonstrated  by  experiment,  how- 
ever, that  these  arid  parts  need  only  irriga- 
tion to  make  them  luxuriantly  fertile. 

Back  of  the  coast  the  country  is  cast  in  a 
mold  of  heroic  dimensions.  Here  the  Andes 
spread  out  into  separate  cordilleras  which  are 
joined  at  intervals  by  transverse  ranges,  form- 
ing great  nudos  (knots),  with  high  plateaux 
between,  surrounded  by  lofty  snow-covered 
peaks.  This  mountainous  area  approximates 
three  hundred  miles  in  width.  In  these 
heights  lay  the  wealth  that  made  of  Peru  a 
fabulous  treasure  land,  and  in  the  lower  val- 
leys the  cereals  and  fruits  of  the  temperate 
zone,  as  well  as  cattle,  provide  in  great  abund- 
ance for  the  Peruvian  of  to-day.  In  her  ex- 
tensive guano  deposits,  too,  Peru  has  another 
great  source  of  wealth. 

Descending  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Cor- 
dillera, the  Montana  region  stretches  away 
gradually  into  the  Amazon  valley,  covering 

321 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

an  immense  area.  This  Montana  country 
comprises  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  total 
area,  and  lies  wholly  within  the  Torrid 
Zone.  Watered  by  mighty  rivers  that  have 
their  source  in  the  Andean  snows,  and  graded 
in  elevation,  its  varied  productiveness  and 
fertility  are  phenomenal.  It  is  in  the  Peru- 
vian Andes  that  the  Amazon  begins  its  long 
course  to  the  Atlantic;  the  river,  however, 
goes  by  the  name  of  Maranon  throughout  its 
length  in  Peru.  In  the  beginning  it  is  aug- 
mented by  the  Huallaga,  Ucayali,  and  Yavari 
and  a  dozen  more  mighty  streams  having  their 
sources  in  the  same  heights  or  in  the  foot- 
hills on  the  eastern  slopes,  and,  while  still 
within  Peruvian  territory,  becomes  a  river 
of  such  immense  depth  that  ocean  liners  steam 
clear  across  the  continent  to  Iquitos,  thus 
giving  to  Peru  a  port  accessible  from  the 
Atlantic  for  her  shipments  of  rubber  and 
other  tropical  products. 

The  disposition  of  the  country's  population 
of  4,500,000  inhabitants  is  significant  of  the 
history  of  the  nation's  development  and  sug- 
gestive of  the  prosperity  that  awaits  her  when 
the  Andean  barriers  shall  have  been  grid- 
ironed  with  the  railroads  that  will  open  up  the 

322 


PERU 

Amazon  region  to  colonization  some  day. 
The  coast  areas  now  support  a  fourth  of  the 
total  population,  the  Cordilleras  two-thirds, 
while  the  rich  forests  and  fertile  plains  of  the 
Montana — the  country  of  Peru's  present-day 
opportunity — support  but  half  a  million. 
The  bulk  of  these  inhabitants  are  of  Indian 
and  mixed  Indian  and  Spanish  descent.  But 
little  impression  has  yet  been  made  by  Eu- 
ropean immigration,  as  in  the  established 
agricultural  republics  of  the  Atlantic  sea- 
board. It  is  confidently  expected  that  the 
birth  of  the  New  Peru — the  Peru  of  railroads, 
colonization,  and  great  agricultural  and  min- 
ing activity — will  reverse  this  disparity  in 
distribution  and  increase  the  population  to 
many  times  its  present  numbers,  for  now  it  is 
less  than  that  of  Holland,  although  Peru  is 
three  times  the  size  of  France. 

The  New  Peru,  which  is  heralded  by  all 
recent  visitors  to  the  west  coast  republics,  is 
building  an  industrial  and  commercial  nation 
on  the  long  smoldering  ruins  of  Spain's 
golden  empire,  and  it  will  be  a  worthier  and 
more  lasting  structure  than  that  with  which 
Pizarro  remorselessly  smothered  the  unique 
civilization  of  the  Incas.  The  war  with  Chile 

323 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

seemed  to  awaken  her  to  the  necessity  of  keep- 
ing pace  with  the  times,  not  only  in  military 
but  in  commercial  affairs.  Since  then  she  has 
made  great  strides. 

A  short  distance  up  the  coast  near 
Ecuador's  port  of  Guayaquil  lies  the  little 
town  of  Tumbez,  where  Pizarro  landed  with 
his  troop  of  two  hundred  men  and  planted  the 
banner  of  Castile  in  the  Inca's  domain.  One 
of  his  first  acts  after  establishing  the  power  of 
Spain  in  the  Inca  country  was  to  found  a 
new  capital  nearer  the  coast  than  Cuzco, 
where,  in  the  midst  of  the  Andes,  the  Incas 
had  for  centuries  had  their  seat  of  govern- 
ment. He  chose  the  site  of  a  pre-Incaic 
oracle  on  the  Rimac  River  (the  "river  that 
speaks")  where  the  legendary  predecessors 
of  the  Incas  came  to  make  their  vows.  For 
nearly  three  hundred  years  this  city,  which  is 
now  called  Lima,  but  which  he  christened 
the  City  of  the  Kings,  enjoyed  the  distinction 
of  being  the  "second  metropolis"  of  the  great 
Spanish  Empire  on  two  continents  and  the 
center  of  a  viceregal  court,  the  splendor  of 
which  rivaled  that  of  royalty  itself.  Stately 
palaces  and  churches  were  soon  erected;  wide 
avenues  and  beautiful  plazas  were  laid  out 

324 


PERU 

and  substantial  walls  constructed  for  defense, 
and  here  came  in  the  viceroy's  train  the 
proudest  nobility  of  Spain. 

Lima  is  reached  by  both  railroad  and  trolley 
line  from  Callao,  and  lies  on  a  broad,  fertile 
plain  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river.  Fifty 
miles  back  of  the  city  the  great  chain  of  the 
Andes  passes;  but  spurs  from  the  majestic 
range  stretch  down  and  enclose  it  as  within 
an  amphitheater.  Lima  is  only  five  hundred 
feet  above  sea-level,  and  in  the  summer  season 
unquestionably  hot,  although  the  cool  breezes 
from  the  Pacific  temper  the  climate  to  a  cer- 
tain extent.  In  general  appearance  the  early 
writers  likened  it  to  Seville;  to-day,  as  the 
capital  of  a  progressive  republic,  it  has  broad- 
ened out  and  become  more  active  than  its 
dreamy  Andalusian  prototype.  As  in  Santi- 
ago and  the  old  parts  of  Buenos  Aires,  the 
business  and  poorer  residence  streets  gener- 
ally are  narrow  and  paved  with  cobble-stones, 
and  most  of  the  buildings  are  two  or  three 
stories  high.  In  the  better  residence  sections 
the  visitor  is  agreeably  surprised  to  find 
the  charm  of  other  days  still  remaining  in 
the  massive  wooden  street  doors  studded  with 
brass,  barred  windows  and  Moorish  balconies, 

325 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

or  miradores,  of  heavily  carved  mahogany, 
and  beautiful  patios.  The  famous  old  Torre- 
Tagle  mansion,  where  so  many  of  the  viceroys 
lived,  is  still  standing  to  perpetuate  this 
interesting  type,  as  in  the  older  tropical 
Spanish  cities.  Portales,  or  arcades,  extend 
along  the  sides  of  the  plazas  in  front  of  the 
shops  to  afford  shelter  from  the  sun. 

The  great  cathedral  and  the  government 
palace  of  the  same  period  flank  two  sides 
of  the  Plaza  Mayor.  On  the  third  side  stands 
the  city  hall,  above  which  are  the  balconies 
of  the  principal  social  clubs.  Near  by  is  the 
old  Inquisition  building.  In  the  high-domed 
and  mahogany-paneled  room  in  which  the 
Holy  Office  sat,  the  Senate  now  holds  its 
sessions  and  signs  the  laws  of  the  republic  on 
the  very  table  whence  in  the  old  days  were 
issued  warrants  for  autos  da  fe,  and  the  legis- 
lators now  hang  their  hats  in  the  former 
torture  chamber,  in  fine  disregard  of  the 
horrors  it  once  witnessed.  There  is  a  vener- 
ableness  attached  to  the  old  churches  and 
convents  abounding  in  Lima  which  makes 
one  hope  that  the  exigencies  of  modernism 
may  not  demand  the  destruction  of  these 
splendid  relics  of  colonial  architecture. 

326 


PERU 

The  Plaza  Mayor  was  the  very  heart  of 
the  brilliant  colonial  regime.  The  courtly 
Dons  of  these  days,  many  of  whom  are  de- 
scendants of  the  principal  courtiers  of  that 
period,  still  are  delighted  to  tell  of  the  bril- 
liance of  the  viceregal  court  under  the 
Marquis  de  Canete  or  the  Duke  de  Palata, 
or  the  dilettante  Prince  de  Esquilache — a 
court  that  was  the  talk  of  two  continents.  In 
the  gorgeous  salons  of  the  old  palace  the 
gayety  reached  its  height  in  the  days  of  the 
Viceroy  Amat.  It  is  not  surprising  to  learn 
that  the  deposed  Ferdinand  VII  would  gladly 
have  followed  the  example  of  the  Portuguese 
king  and  moved  with  his  court  to  his  new- 
world  capital  had  he  been  able  to  escape  from 
the  grasp  of  Napoleon.  At  one  corner  is  the 
site  of  the  house  in  which  Pizarro  fought  in 
vain  with  his  assassins.  His  skeleton  now  lies 
in  a  glass  case  in  the  cathedral,  exposed  to  the 
visitor's  astonished  gaze.  In  the  center  of 
the  Plaza  a  beautiful  bronze  fountain  has 
stood  for  three  hundred  years,  untouched  by 
the  strife  that  surged  about  it  as  each  new 
period  of  Peru's  stormy  career  was  ushered 
in. 

In  the  Plaza  de  la  Exposicion,  on  the 
327 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Paseo  Colon  and  in  other  parks  and  boule- 
vards are  erected  the  statues  of  the  nation's 
heroes,  and  other  men  who  have  made  Peru's 
history — Christopher  Columbus,  the  two  Lib- 
erators, San  Martin  and  Bolivar,  Colonel 
Bolognesi,  who  fell  in  the  war  with  Chile, 
refusing  to  surrender  "until  we  have  burned 
our  last  cartridge,"  and  many  others.  The 
Paseo  Colon  runs  through  the  fashionable 
residence  section.  It  is  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  wide  and  connects  the  Plazas  Bo- 
lognesi and  Exposition.  Through  the  center 
runs  a  garden  bordered  with  superb  trees 
and  artistically  laid  out  flower-beds  and 
flowering  bushes,  and  interspersed  at  inter- 
vals with  monuments,  pillars,  and  fountains. 
The  present  day  parade  of  the  gente  decente 
gives  the  visitor  a  picture  of  beautiful  women 
and  well-groomed  equipages  that  measures 
up  to  the  best  traditions  of  Peru's  social 
eminence.  In  the  heart  of  the  city  is  the 
great  bull  ring,  where  once  society  gathered 
for  other  purposes  than  merely  to  take  the  air. 
Excellent  electric  car  service  is  a  feature 
of  Lima's  modern  improvements.  Trolley 
lines  extend  to  the  many  seaside  resorts  for 
which  society  deserts  the  capital  in  the  hot- 

328 


PERU 

test  months — Chorillos,  the  Newport  of  Peru, 
just  south  of  Callao,  or  Miraflores,  Barranco, 
Ancon  and  the  numerous  imitations  of  Coney 
Island. 

Too  much  cannot  be  said  of  the  charm  of 
Lima's  culture  and  refinement.  If  the 
Limenos  have  inherited  from  their  ancestors 
too  much  of  the  aristocratic  pride  and  mili- 
tary arrogance  that  distinguish  the  Penin- 
8ulare,  they  have  also  fallen  heir  to  the  courtly 
grace  and  savoir  faire  that  made  the  Knights 
of  Alcantara  famous  among  the  first  gentle- 
men in  Europe  four  centuries  ago.  From 
the  Lima  home  of  to-day  the  visitor  will  take 
away  with  him  recollections  of  hospitality, 
kindness  and  old-world  dignity,  lightened  by 
a  pronounced  keenness  of  wit.  They  have 
the  reputation  of  being  generous  and  hos- 
pitable, if  inclined  to  extravagance,  and  of 
forming  warm  and  lasting  friendships.  Ar- 
dent imaginations  and  brilliant  intellects  lend 
a  charm  to  conversation  with  the  men,  only 
less  than  that  which  the  world-famed  beauty, 
intelligence  and  kindly  courtesy  of  the  women 
lend  to  theirs.  Very  reserved  when  on  their 
way  to  church  in  their  black  mantos  or  prom- 
enading the  Alameda  in  their  handsome  toi- 

329 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

lettes,  these  ladies  exert  themselves  to  make 
their  homes  agreeable  to  their  guests.  The 
behavior  of  the  young  girls  on  the  Alameda 
is  more  like  that  of  their  Chilean  sisters. 

At  the  head  of  Peru's  educational  system 
stands  the  fine  old  University  of  San  Marcos, 
in  Lima,  founded  in  1551 — nearly  a  hundred 
years  before  Harvard  received  its  charter.' 
It  has  now  many  additions  and  covers  all 
branches  of  learning,  and  its  courses  are 
thrown  open  to  every  class. 

Peru's  railroads  cover  but  fifteen  hundred 
miles,  but  they  are  pushing  forward  rapidly  to 
fill  in  its  section  of  the  long-promised  Pan- 
American  railway  from  Panama  to  Patagonia. 
One  of  these,  the  Oroya  road,  which  ascends 
from  Lima  up  into  the  plateau  country,  is  alto- 
gether the  most  impressive  piece  of  railroad 
engineering  in  the  world;  it  is  not  only  the 
highest,  but  there  is  no  other  that  lifts  its 
wondering  passengers  to  any  such  altitude  in 
such  an  appallingly  short  space  of  time.  For 
an  hour  or  more  the  train  winds  through  a 
wide,  irrigated  valley,  green  and  prosperous- 
looking  with  plantations  of  sugar  cane. 
Farther  up,  the  valley  narrows  and  is  closed 
in  by  naked  rocks.  Twenty-five  miles  from 

330 


$ 

» 

P*H 

<     ,  -';•*  *"  ' 

>  4'  T  .    i    T 


PERU 

Lima  a  station  is  reached  twenty-eight  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  sea;  twelve  miles  farther 
the  altitude  is  five  thousand  feet.  At  Casa- 
palca,  the  town  of  smelters,  thirteen  thousand 
six  hundred  feet  is  achieved  by  the  puffing, 
vibrating  engine;  at  fourteen  thousand  feet 
the  chimneys  of  Casapalca's  smelters  look 
like  pins  stuck  in  the  green  carpet  below, 
and  finally,  the  passenger  descends  from  the 
train,  very  uncertain  on  his  feet,  at  the  un- 
precedented height  of  15,665  feet,  and  stands 
on  the  cold,  wind-swept  Andean  roof.  On 
every  hand  are  peaks  and  hoods  of  snow. 
Beyond  the  station  the  rechristened  Mount 
Meiggs  rises  another  two  thousand  feet,  as  a 
monument  to  the  indefatigable  Yankee  pro- 
moter and  soldier  of  fortune  who  conceived 
and  built  the  road — Henry  Meiggs. 

Turning  to  the  west,  one  looks  back  over 
the  long,  infinitely  varied  descent;  to  the  east 
lie  the  plateaus  and  the  Andean  treasure  land. 
The  northern  branch  of  the  road  continues 
along  almost  equally  high  levels,  past  the 
historic  plains  of  Junin  on  which  Bolivar 
dealt  his  crushing  blow  to  the  viceroy's  army  in 
1824,  to  Cerro  de  Pasco,  where  the  American 
mining  syndicate  is  preparing  to  get  rich. 

331 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

II 

A  still  more  extensive  railroad  and  one 
which  gives  the  traveler  a  more  varied  view  of 
the  Andes,  is  that  ascending  from  the  port  city 
of  Mollendo,  near  the  Chilean  frontier.  This 
line  is  the  outlet  for  much  of  the  commerce 
of  Bolivia,  and  was  built  by  the  same  gifted 
Yankee  who  fathered  the  Oroya  road.  Leav- 
ing Mollendo,  the  train  speeds  over  the  desert 
for  a  few  miles  and  then  begins  its  steady 
climb  upward.  All  day  it  labors  along  the 
tortuous  ascent  through  echoing  walls  of  rock, 
bare,  repellent,  and  awe-inspiring  in  their  cold 
majesty.  Suddenly,  around  a  jagged  preci- 
pice, the  passengers  look  down  upon  a  lovely 
valley — an  oasis  of  green.  In  its  midst  lies 
the  quaint,  picturesque  old  city  of  Arequipa, 
which  Pizarro,  who  founded  it,  was  wont  to 
call  la  villa  hermosa — the  city  beautiful.  Seen 
from  the  heights,  it  somewhat  resembles  La 
Paz,  a  group  of  low,  white  and  blue  walled, 
red  roofed  buildings,  arranged  in  squares, 
with  a  large  plaza  in  the  center,  the  general 
flatness  relieved  by  many  church  spires,  and 
its  spacious  patios  a  mass  of  foliage  and  trees. 

Thus  far  the  penetration  of  the  railroad 
332 


PERU 

into  this  quiet  retreat  has  produced  but  little 
change  in  its  old-world  aspect.  It  has  long 
been  famous  for  its  delightful  climate  and 
location,  and  as  Mozans  truly  says  of  it,  "If 
it  is  not  the  most  beautiful  place  in  South 
America,  as  its  admirers  claim,  it  is  certainly 
the  most  restful.  It  is  such  a  place  as  one 
would  like  to  retire  to  after  the  stress  and 
storms  of  a  busy  career,  to  pass  one's  days  in 
quiet  and  a  congenial  environment.  The 
people  who  retain  all  the  light-heartedness 
and  cordiality  and  culture  of  old  Spain,  are 
worthy  denizens  of  their  charming  city,  and 
the  better  one  knows  them,  the  more  he  ad- 
mires and  loves  them." 

Overlooking  the  city  are  the  buildings  of  a 
branch  of  the  Harvard  Observatory.  It  is 
said  that,  because  of  the  remarkable  clearness 
of  the  atmosphere  and  the  great  number  of 
cloudless  nights,  this  observatory  is  probably 
more  favorably  located  than  any  other  in  the 
world,  and  that,  as  a  consequence,  the  astron- 
omers stationed  there  have  achieved  results  of 
the  greatest  value  to  science,  especially  in 
photographing  the  southern  skies.  Also  they 
are  doing  valuable  work  in  measuring  the 
heights  of  the  Andean  peaks  and  charting 

333 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

the  general  topography,  as  well  as  in  keeping 
open  house  to  their  fellow-countrymen  who 
hunger  for  the  sound  of  their  native  tongue 
after  many  weeks  of  effort  to  comprehend 
the  idioms  of  the  Castilian  speech  and  the 
patois  of  the  ever-present  cholo.  The  veran- 
das and  trim  green  lawns  and  tennis  courts 
are  a  reminder  of  Cambridge,  indeed. 

Above  the  observatory,  snow-capped  Misti 
rises  sheer  from  the  valley  some  21,000  feet, 
like  a  perfect  cone.  Its  appearance  is  so 
distinct,  so  impressive  in  its  constancy  and 
brooding  grandeur,  that  it  possesses  a  per- 
sonality almost  human.  One  feels  impelled 
to  address  it  with  the  prefix  "Senor"  after 
the  manner  of  the  Japanese  with  their  Fuji- 
san,  which,  by  the  way,  greatly  resembles 
Misti  in  shape  and  location. 

Continuing  upward  through  the  mountain 
desert,  the  Mollendo  road  ascends  to  a  height 
of  14,666  feet  in  the  short  latitudinal  distance 
of  less  than  two  hundred  miles,  and  across  the 
divide  to  Juliaca,  a  town  near  the  northern 
shore  of  Lake  Titicaca,  where  it  separates, 
one  branch  extending  south  to  Puno,  the  cen- 
ter of  the  gold  mining  district,  thence  around 
the  great  lake  to  La  Paz,  the  other  extending 

334 


PERU 

northwest  for  about  two  hundred  miles,  down 
the  sloping  plateau  to  the  valley  of  Cuzco,  at 
the  head  of  which  is  the  ancient  imperial  capi- 
tal of  the  Incas.  Plantations  and  pastures 
begin  to  appear  as  the  train  descends  from  the 
high  ridges  into  the  plain,  and,  great  as  is  the 
altitude  even  here,  on  an  island  in  this  very 
lake,  according  to  tradition,  the  remarkable 
native  dynasty  had  its  birth.  The  legend,  as 
Mozans  quotes  it  from  the  works  of  Garcilaso 
de  la  Vega,  the  historian  of  the  conquest,  and 
who  was  himself,  through  his  mother,  a  de- 
scendant of  the  royal  Inca  line,  is  that — 

"Our  Father,  the  Sun,  seeing  the  human  race  in  the 
condition  I  have  described:  living  like  wild  beasts, 
without  religion  or  government,  or  town  or  houses, 
without  cultivating  the  land  or  clothing  their  bodies, 
for  they  knew  not  how  to  weave  cotton  or  wool  to  make 
clothes ;  living  in  caves  or  clefts  in  the  rocks,  or  in 
caverns  under  the.  ground;  eating  the  herbs  of  the 
field  and  roots  and  fruit,  like  wild  animals,  and  also 
human  flesh — had  compassion  on  them  and  sent  down 
from  heaven  to  the  earth  a  son  and  a  daughter  to  in- 
struct them  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Father,  the  Sun, 
that  they  might  adore  him  and  adopt  him  as  their 
God,  also  to  give  them  precepts  and  laws  by  which 
to  live  as  reasonable  and  civilized  men  and  to  teach 
them  to  live  in  houses  and  towns,  to  cultivate  maize 
and  other  crops,  to  breed  flocks,  to  use  the  fruits  of 
the  earth  like  rational  beings  instead  of  living  like 

335 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

wild  beasts.  With  these  commands  and  intentions, 
our  Father,  the  Sun,  placed  his  two  children  in  the 
Lake  of  Titicaca,  which  is  eighty  leagues  from  here" 
(Cuzco);  "and  he  said  to  them  that  they  might  go 
where  they  pleased,  and  that,  at  every  place  where 
they  stopped  to  eat  or  sleep,  they  were  to  thrust  a 
scepter  of  gold  into  the  ground,  which  was  half  a 
yard  long  and  two  fingers  in  thickness.  He  gave  them 
this  staff  as  a  sign  and  token  that  in  the  place  where, 
by  one  blow  on  the  earth,  it  should  sink  down  and  dis- 
appear, there  it  was  the  desire  of  our  Father,  the  Sun, 
that  they  should  remain  and  establish  their  court." 

In  this  region  the  table-land  is  of  vast  ex- 
panse, and  in  many  respects  the  panorama  is 
more  impressive  even  than  that  in  the  vicinity 
of  Aconcagua.  In  the  center  is  the  enormous 
sheet  of  water,  turquoise  blue  in  the  sunlight, 
stretching  for  a  hundred  and  ten  miles  off  to 
the  south,  with  an  average  width  of  thirty 
miles  and  an  average  depth  of  a  hundred 
fathoms,  and,  12,500  feet  high  as  it  is,  bor- 
dered on  either  side  by  superb  ranges  tower- 
ing many  thousands  of  feet  higher,  their 
clean-cut  peaks  glittering  with  mantles  of 
snow  and  ice.  Around  the  shore  and  on  the 
islands  of  Titicaca  and  Koati  are  picturesque 
towns  and  small  clusters  of  adobe  houses 
surrounded  by  hills,  their  sides  terraced  and 
covered  with  farms,  the  water  fringed  with 


PERU 

fields  of  reeds,  and  feeding  in  them  countless 
birds  and  herds  of  cattle.  It  is  no  wonder 
that  these  "  Children  of  the  Sun "  should 
have  worshiped  as  their  God  and  Goddess 
the  great  luminous  orbs  in  a  region  where, 
thanks  to  the  unwonted  splendor  of  the  moon 
and  stars,  which  enable  one  to  distinguish 
all  the  salient  features  of  lake  and  Cordillera 
with  the  greatest  ease,  the  nights,  as  Mozans 
says,  are  glorious  beyond  words;  but  where, 
"however  fair  the  views  presented  to  the  en- 
raptured gaze  in  the  subdued  light  of  the 
moon  and  her  attendant  handmaidens,  no  one 
can  be  insensible  to  the  gorgeous  vistas  that 
burst  upon  the  vision  during  the  daytime."  It 
is  then,  he  continues — 

"Especially  at  the  hours  of  dawn  and  twilight  that 
the  snow-crested  range  of  the  lofty  Cordillera  Real  is 
visible  in  all  its  transcendent  beauty  and  majesty. 
For  then,  as  if  by  magic,  various  colored  fires  seem  to 
blaze  from  the  immense  glaciers  and  snow  fields  and 
to  convert  the  sparkling  expanse  into  glowing  rubies, 
sapphires,  and  emeralds,  while  the  lofty  peaks  of  the 
Sorata  range  are  transformed  into  gleaming  pinnacles 
of  burnished  gold.  Then  in  fullest  perfection  and 
palpable  form  is  realized  that  vision  of  mountain  love- 
liness, that  crowning  splendor  of  earth  and  sky,  set 
forth  in  Ruskin's  noble  lines :  'Wait  yet  for  one  hour, 
until  the  east  again  becomes  purple  and  the  heaving 

337 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

mountains,  rolling  against  it  in  the  darkness  like 
waves  of  a  wild  sea,  are  drowned  one  by  one  in  the 
glory  of  its  burning.  Watch  the  white  glaciers  blaze 
in  their  winding  paths  about  the  mountains,  like 
mighty  serpents  with  scales  of  fire ;  watch  the  columnar 
peaks  of  solitary  snow,  kindling  downwards,  chasm 
by  chasm,  each  in  itself  a  new  morning — their  long 
avalanches  cast  down  in  keen  streams  brighter  than 
the  lightning,  sending  each  its  tribute  of  driven  snow, 
like  altar-smoke,  up  to  the  heaven,  the  rose-light  of 
their  silent  domes  flushing  that  heaven  about  them 
and  above  them,  piercing  with  purer  light  through  its 
purple  lines  of  lifted  cloud,  casting  a  new  glory  on 
every  wreath  as  it  passes  by,  until  the  whole  heaven, 
one  scarlet  canopy,  is  interwoven  with  a  roof  of  wav- 
ing flame,  and  tossing,  vault  beyond  vault,  as  with  the 
drifted  wings  of  many  companies  of  angels.' ' 

The  railroad  has  been  built  along  the  very 
route  that  the  first  Inca  and  his  sister-wife 
are  said  to  have  chosen  when  they  started 
out  to  found  their  capital.  Passing  between 
two  giant  peaks,  it  descends  the  gradually 
sloping  two-hundred-mile-long  plateau  which 
became  the  most  populous  section  of  the 
great  empire,  as  it  is  still  of  modern  Peru. 
On  either  side  are  torrential  rivers  that  rush 
down  through  the  deep  defiles  of  the  moun- 
tains to  the  Amazon.  Every  foot  of  the 
region  is  associated  with  legendary  and  his- 
toric events;  scattered  about  everywhere, 

338 


PERU 

from  the  islands  of  Titicaca  on,  are  wonder- 
ful ruins — ruins  of  towns,  bridges,  fortresses, 
temples,  burial  towers,  some  Incaic,  some 
thought  to  be  as  old  as  the  pyramids  of 
Egypt.  There  is  a  lake  in  which,  at  the 
coming  of  the  Spaniards,  the  Indians  are 
said  to  have  thrown  the  colossal  gold  chain 
that  was  forged  at  the  birth  of  Huascar,  a 
chain  so  heavy,  according  to  the  chroniclers, 
that  it  was  all  that  two  hundred  men  could  do 
to  carry  it. 

The  climate  is  delightful.  All  along  the 
road  is  a  succession  of  wild,  gorgeous  scenery, 
quaint  towns  and  villages  and  big  haciendas, 
with  fields  green  with  growing  crops  and 
herds  of  cattle  and  alpaca  ranging  about, 
often  tended  by  pretty  copper-colored  chola 
(mixed  breed)  or  Indian  girls,  as  pictur- 
esquely dressed  as  those  of  La  Paz,  only 
here  in  Peru,  instead  of  the  great  number  of 
voluminous  many-colored  skirts  the  Bolivian 
women  wear — sometimes  as  many  as  twelve 
or  fifteen,  which  makes  them  appear  as 
though  they  had  on  the  hoops  once  worn  by 
our  grandmothers — they  wear  a  single,  short 
woolen  skirt  over  the  usual  cotton  ones,  and, 
instead  of  the  peculiar  headdress  of  the 

339 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

Aymaras,  broad-brimmed,  gaily  beribboned 
hats,  though,  like  the  Aymaras,  they  wear 
brilliantly  colored  mantles,  fastened  around 
the  shoulders  by  a  pin  with  a  spoon-shaped 
head  (which  they  also  use  as  a  spoon),  and 
the  men,  like  the  Bolivian  mountaineers, 
wear  ponchos  that  vie  with  the  mantles  of 
the  women  in  color.  Ponchos  and  mantles 
like  those  worn  to-day,  but  many  centuries 
old,  have  been  found  in  the  tombs,  so  ancient 
is  the  fashion. 

It  is  in  this  country  between  La  Paz  and 
Cuzco  that  the  llama  is  seen  in  greatest  num- 
bers— that  remarkable  animal  which  Mozans 
aptly  describes  as  a  creature  with  the  legs 
of  a  deer,  the  body  of  a  sheep,  and  the  head 
and  neck  of  a  camel.  They  are  larger  than 
sheep,  however,  and  far  more  docile  and 
ornamental  than  the  ugly,  ungainly  camel. 
Their  coats  are  of  several  shades:  white, 
brown,  black  or  parti-colored;  their  wool  is 
long  and  thick,  and  they  are  noted  for  their 
beautiful  big,  wistfully  inquiring  eyes.  From 
time  immemorial  the  natives  had  used  them 
as  burden-bearers,  and  the  Spaniards,  when 
they  came,  found  them  surer-footed  and  more 
enduring  than  mules  or  burros,  proof  against 

340 


PERU 

cold  and  acclimated  in  the  rarefied  atmos- 
phere of  the  high  table-lands,  and  able  to  go 
as  long  as  a  camel  without  food  and  water, 
and  to  maintain  themselves  by  grazing  along 
the  waysides  in  parts  of  the  country  in  which 
no  other  animal  could  live.  It  was  on  their 
backs  that  all  the  material  that  entered  into 
the  construction  of  the  steamers  on  Lake 
Titicaca  was  hauled,  and  most  of  the  mining 
machinery,  and  the  caravans  still  compete 
with  the  railroads  in  carrying  ores  and  coca 
to  the  coast  and  bringing  back  supplies  for 
the  mountain  towns. 

In  these  days  only  the  males  are  used  for 
such  purposes.  It  is  said  of  them  that  when 
they  are  loaded  with  more  than  they  feel 
that  they  can  comfortably  carry  (about  a 
hundred  pounds ) ,  they  lie  right  down  in  their 
tracks  and  refuse  to  budge  for  all  the  ca- 
joling or  in  spite  of  the  kicks  and  curses 
their  tenders  can  bestow.  The  females  are 
kept  in  pasture  for  breeding  purposes  and 
for  their  wool  and  milk,  and  in  that  region 
rank  with  cattle  as  a  source  of  food  supply, 
for  their  flesh  resembles  mutton  and  is  quite 
as  palatable  and  good  to  eat.  It  is  much 
used  in  the  native  dish  called  chupe,  a  sort 

341 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

of  thick  soup  which  is  made  of  the  peculiar 
mountain  potatoes  grown  in  those  parts,  first 
frozen  and  dried,  and  then  put  into  a  pot 
and  boiled  with  any  other  vegetables  at  hand 
and  fragments  of  meat  and  fish,  and  seasoned 
with  salt  and  red  pepper.  This,  to  the  people 
of  the  mountains,  is  what  rice  is  to  the 
Chinese  and  macaroni  to  the  Italians.  Some- 
times it  is  the  only  fare  the  traveler  can 
get  at  the  little  tambos  or  inns  remote  from 
the  railroad;  but  even  so,  when  properly  pre- 
pared, as  it  usually  is,  with  plenty  of  nourish- 
ing ingredients,  it  leaves  little  to  be  desired 
after  a  hard  day's  climb. 

The  valley  of  Cuzco — a  pocketlike  depres- 
sion about  ten  miles  long  and  varying  in 
width  from  two  to  three  miles,  covered  with 
fields  of  barley  and  maize,  dotted  with  many 
attractive-looking  gardens  and  country  man- 
sions of  the  old  Spanish  colonial  type,  and 
hedged  in  on  either  side  by  ranges  of  moun- 
tains towering  high  above — is  at  the  north- 
western extremity  of  the  plateau.  The  city, 
which  is  at  the  head  of  the  valley,  is  a  little 
more  than  a  mile  and  a  half  in  breadth,  from 
the  foot  of  the  mountain  range  on  the  east 
to  that  of  the  range  on  the  west,  and  about 

342 


PERU 

a  mile  in  length.  To  the  north,  the  famous 
hill  of  Sacsahuaman  rises  abruptly  over  it 
and  is  separated  from  the  mountains  on  either 
side  by  deep  ravines,  through  one  of  which 
flows  the  little  river  Huatanay  and  through 
the  other  the  Rodadero.  The  Huatanay 
tumbles  noisily  past  the  moss-grown  walls 
of  an  old  convent,  under  the  houses  forming 
the  west  side  of  the  great  square,  thence 
through  the  center  of  a  broad  street,  where 
it  is  confined  between  banks  faced  with  ma- 
sonry and  crossed  by  numerous  bridges,  and 
on  beyond  until  it  unites  with  the  Rodadero, 
which  separates  the  city  from  the  suburb  of 
San  Bias. 

The  most  important  section  of  the  ancient 
city  was  built  between  the  two  little  rivers, 
with  the  great  square  in  the  center,  and  this 
site,  said  to  have  been  chosen  for  it  by  the 
first  Inca  and  his  sister-wife,  is  declared  by 
many  to  be  the  most  wildly,  majestically 
beautiful  of  all  the  beautiful  mountain  city 
sites  in  South  America — even  Santiago,  La 
Paz,  Arequipa,  Cajamarca,  Quito,  Bogota, 
and  Caracas.  Respecting  the  ancient  city 
itself,  Prescott  tells  us  that  the  Spaniards 
were  astonished  "by  the  beauty  of  its  edi- 

343 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

fices,  the  length  and  regularity  of  its  streets, 
and  the  good  order  and  appearance  of  com- 
fort, even  luxury,  visible  in  its  numerous 
population.  It  far  surpassed  all  they  had 
seen  in  the  New  World.  .  .  .  It"  (the 
great  square),  he  continues,  "was  surrounded 
by  low  piles  of  buildings,  among  which  were 
several  palaces  of  the  Incas.  One  of  these, 
erected  by  Huayana  Capac,  was  surmounted 
by  a  tower,  while  the  ground  floor  was  occu- 
pied by  one  or  more  immense  halls,  like  those 
described  in  Cajamarca,  where  the  Peruvian 
nobles  held  their  fetes  in  stormy  weather. 
The  population  of  the  city,"  he  goes  on— 

"Is  computed  by  one  of  the  conquerors  at  two  hun- 
dred thousand  inhabitants  and  that  of  the  suburbs  at 
as  many  more.  This  account  is  not  confirmed,  as  far 
as  I  have  seen,  by  any  other  writer.  But,  however  it 
may  be  exaggerated,  it  is  certain  that  Cuzco  was  the 
metropolis  of  a  great  empire,  the  residence  of  the 
court  and  the  chief  nobility,  frequented  by  the  most 
skillful  mechanics  and  artisans  of  every  description, 
who  found  a  demand  for  their  ingenuity  in  the  royal 
precincts,  while  the  place  was  garrisoned  by  a  numer- 
ous soldiery,  and  was  the  resort,  finally,  of  emigrants 
from  the  most  distant  provinces.  The  quarters  whence 
this  motley  population  came  were  indicated  by  their 
peculiar  dress,  and  especially  their  head-gear,  so  rare- 
ly found  at  all  on  the  American  Indian,  which,  with 

844 


PERU 

its  variegated  colors,  gave  a  picturesque  effect  to  the 
groups  and  masses  in  the  streets.  .  .  . 

"The  edifices  of  the  better  sort — and  they  were 
very  numerous — were  of  stone,  or  faced  with  stone. 
Among  the  principal  were  the  royal  residences,  as 
each  sovereign  built  a  new  palace  for  himself,  cover- 
ing, though  low,  a  large  extent  of  ground.  The  walls 
were  stained  or  painted  with  gaudy  tints,  and  the 
gates,  we  are  assured,  were  sometimes  of  colored  mar- 
ble. 'In  the  delicacy  of  the  stonework,'  says  another 
of  the  conquerors,  'the  natives  far  excelled  the  Span- 
iards, though  the  roofs  of  their  dwellings,  instead  of 
tiles,  were  only  of  thatch,  but  put  together  with  the 
nicest  art.'  The  sunny  climate  of  Cuzco  did  not  re- 
quire a  very  substantial  material  for  defense  against 
the  weather.  .  .  .  The  streets  were  long  and  nar- 
row. They  were  arranged  with  perfect  regularity, 
crossing  one  another  at  right  angles ;  from  the  great 
square  diverged  four  principal  streets  connecting  with 
the  highroads  of  the  empire.  The  square  itself,  and 
many  parts  of  the  city,  were  paved  with  fine  pebble. 
Through  the  heart  of  the  capital  ran  a  river  of  pure 
water,  if  it  might  not  be  rather  termed  a  canal,  the 
banks  or  sides  of  which,  for  a  distance  of  twenty 
leagues,  were  faced  with  stone.  Across  this  stream, 
bridges,  constructed  of  similar  broad  flags,  were 
thrown  at  intervals,  so  as  to  afford  an  easy  communi- 
cation between  the  different  quarters. 

"The  most  sumptuous  edifice  in  Cuzco  in  the  times 
of  the  Incas  was  undoubtedly  the  great  temple  dedi- 
cated to  the  sun,  which,  studded  with  gold  plates,  as 
already  noticed,  was  surrounded  by  convents  and  dor- 
mitories for  the  priests,  with  their  gardens  and  broad 
parterres  sparkling  with  gold.  The  exterior  orna- 

345 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

ments  had  been  already  removed  by  the  conquerors — 
all  but  the  frieze  of  gold,  which,  imbedded  in  the 
stones,  still  encircled  the  principal  building.  .  .  . 
The  fortress  was  raised  to  a  height  rare  in  Peruvian 
architecture,  and  from  the  summit  of  the  tower  the 
eye  of  the  spectator  ranged  over  a  magnificent  pros- 
pect, in  which  the  wild  features  of  the  mountain 
scenery — rocks,  woods,  and  waterfalls — were  mingled 
with  the  rich  verdure  of  the  valley  and  the  shining 
city  filling  up  the  foreground,  all  blended  in  sweet 
harmony  under  the  deep  azure  of  a  tropical  sky." 

The  ruins  of  the  palace  of  the  first  Inca, 
on  the  hill  above  the  city,  and  those  of  the 
immense  fortress  on  the  summit — which  is 
admitted  by  all  to  have  been  constructed  with 
a  degree  of  skill  equaled  nowhere  else  in  the 
world  prior  to  the  use  of  artillery — are  thus 
described  by  Sir  Clements  R.  Markham: 

"On  a  terrace,  built  of  stones  of  every  conceivable 
size  and  shape,  fitting  exactly  one  into  the  other, 
eighty-four  paces  long  and  eight  feet  high,  is  a  wall 
with  eight  recesses,  resembling  those  of  the  Inca  pal- 
ace at  Lima-tambo,  and,  in  the  center  of  the  lower 
wall,  a  mermaid  or  siren,  much  defaced  by  time,  is 
carved  in  relief  on  a  square  slab.  In  one  of  the  re- 
cesses a  steep  stone  staircase  leads  up  to  a  field  of 
lucerne,  on  a  level  with  the  upper  part  of  the  wall, 
which  is  twelve  feet  high,  and  this  forms  a  second  ter- 
race. On  either  side  of  the  field  are  ruins  of  the  same 
character,  traces  of  a  very  extensive  building  or  range 

346 


PERU 

of  buildings.  They  consist  of  a  thick  stone  wall,  six~ 
teen  paces  long  and  ten  feet  six  inches  wide,  contain- 
ing a  door  and  windows.  The  masonry  is  most  per- 
fect. The  stones  are  cut  in  parallelograms,  all  of 
equal  height  but  varying  in  length,  with  corners  so 
sharp  and  fine  that  they  appear  as  if  they  had  just 
been  cut — and  without  any  kind  of  cement,  fitting  so 
exactly  that  the  finest  needle  could  not  be  introduced 
between  them.  The  doorposts,  of  ample  height,  sup- 
port a  stone  lintel  seven  feet  ten  inches  in  length, 
while  another  stone,  six  feet  long,  forms  the  foot. 
.  .  .  Behind  these  remains  are  three  terraces,  built 
in  the  rougher  style  of  the  masonry  used  in  the 
first  walls  and  planted  in  alders  and  fruit  trees, 
.  .  .  where  he"  (the  first  Inca,  Manco  Capac)  "is 
said  to  have  chosen  the  site  of  his  residence,  the 
more  readily  to  overlook  the  building  of  his  city  and 
the  labors  of  his  disciples.  .  .  . 

"On  the  east  end  of  Sacsahuaman,  crowning  a 
steep  cliff  immediately  above  the  palace  of  Manco 
Capac,  there  are  three  terraces,  one  above  the  other, 
built  of  a  light-colored  stone.  The  first  wall,  fourteen 
feet  high,  extends  in  a  semicircular  form  around  the 
hill  for  one  hundred  and  eighty  paces,  and  between  the 
first  and  second  terraces  there  is  a  space  eight  feet 
wide.  The  second  wall  is  twelve  feet  high  and  the 
third  is  ninety  paces  around  its  whole  extent.  .  .  . 
This  was  the  citadel  of  the  fortress,  and  in  its  palmy 
days  was  crowned  by  three  towers  connected  by 
subterranean  passages,  now  quite  demolished.  .  .  . 
From  the  citadel  to  its  eastern  extremity  the  length  of 
the  table-land  of  Sacsahuaman  is  three  hundred  and 
fifty-three  paces  and  its  breadth  in  the  broadest  part 
one  hundred  and  thirty  paces.  On  the  south  side  the 

347 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

position  is  so  strong  and  impregnable  that  it  required 
no  artificial  defense.  The  position  is  defended  on 
part  of  its  north  side  by  a  steep  ravine  through  which 
flows  the  river  Rodadero  and  which  extends  for  one 
hundred  and  seventy-four  paces  from  the  citadel  in 
a  westerly  direction.  Here,  therefore,  the  position  re- 
quired only  a  single  breastwork,  which  is  still  in  a 
good  state  of  preservation ;  but  from  this  point  to  the 
western  extremity  of  the  table-land,  a  distance  of  four 
hundred  paces,- nature  has  left  it  entirely  undefended, 
a  small  plain  extending  in  front  of  it  to  the  rocky 
heights  of  the  Rodadero. 

"From  this  point,  therefore,  the  Incas  constructed 
a  cyclopean  line  of  fortifications,  a  work  which  fills  the 
mind  with  astonishment  at  the  grandeur  of  the  con- 
ception and  the  perfect  manner  of  its  execution.  It 
consists  of  three  walls,  the  first  averaging  a  height  of 
eighteen  feet,  the  second  of  sixteen  and  the  third  of 
fourteen,  the  first  terrace  being  ten  feet  broad  and  the 
second  eight.  The  walls  are  built  with  salient  and  re- 
tiring angles,  twenty-one  in  number  and  correspond- 
ing with  each  other  in  each  wall,  so  that  no  one  point 
could  be  attacked  without  being  commanded  by  others. 
.  .  .  But  the  most  marvelous  part  of  this  forti- 
fication is  the  huge  masses  of  rock  of  which  it  is  con- 
structed (one  of  them  being  sixteen  feet  in  height  and 
several  more  varying  from  ten  to  twelve  feet),  yet 
made  to  fit  exactly  one  into  the  other  and  forming  a 
piece  of  masonry  almost  unparalleled  in  solidity, 
beauty,  and  peculiarity  of  its  construction  in  any 
other  part  of  the  world.  The  immense  masses  at 
Stonehenge,  the  great  block  in  the  tomb  of  Agamem- 
non at  Argos,  and  those  in  the  cyclopean  walls  of  Vol- 
terra  and  Agrigentum  are  wonderful  monuments  of 

348 


PERU 

the  perseverance  and  knowledge  of  the  people  who 
raised  them,  but  they  fall  immeasurably  short  in 
beauty  of  execution  of  the  fortress  of  Cuzco." 


The  railroad  and  electric  lights  and  the 
telegraph  and  telephone  have  come  to  Cuzco 
now,  but  in  other  respects  the  city  is  not 
much  modernized.  It  is  still  distinctly  remi- 
niscent of  the  royal  Inca  regime,  and  even 
more  of  the  regime  of  the  Spanish  viceroys. 
For  many  years  after  the  conquest  it  was 
superior  in  importance  to  Lima.  Notaries 
were  required  under  severe  penalties,  Mozans 
says,  "to  write  at  the  head  of  all  public 
documents,  fEn  la  gran  ciudad  del  Cuzco, 
cabeza  de  estos  reinos  y  provincias  del  Peru 
en  las  Indias3 — In  the  great  city  of  Cuzco, 
head  of  these  kingdoms  and  provinces  of 
Peru  in  the  Indies.  Even  so  late  as  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,"  he 
continues,  "it  was,  next  to  Lima,  the  city 
of  the  greatest  social  importance  in  the  vice- 
royalty."  And  so  now,  although  there  are 
the  same  long  vistas  of  low,  massive  buildings 
through  the  narrow  streets,  the  view  from 
the  hill  presents  a  panorama  of  red-tiled  roofs 
instead  of  thatches,  of  many  tall  church 

349 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

towers,  and  of  a  great  square  divided  into 
three. 

On  the  first  stories  of  the  old  Indian  homes 
Spanish  superstructures  have  been  built;  on 
the  foundation  walls  of  the  ancient  temple 
of  Voricancha,  the  largest  and  richest  of  the 
sanctuaries  devoted  to  the  worship  of  the 
Sun,  has  been  erected  the  convent  of  Santo 
Domingo;  the  devotees  in  the  convent  of 
Santa  Catalina  occupy  cells  that  were  once 
used  by  the  Virgins  of  the  Sun;  walls  that 
were  retained  in  the  building  of  the  Church 
of  San  Lazaro  are  ornamented  with  bodies 
of  birds  having  women's  heads  that  were 
carved  by  the  bronze  chisels  of  the  artisans 
of  the  Incas.  The  grand  old  renaissance 
cathedral,  which,  with  its  massive  stone  walls 
and  pillars  and  vaulted  roof,  cost  so  much 
to  build  that  one  of  the  viceroys  said  it 
would  have  been  cheaper  to  build  it  of  silver, 
is  one  of  the  most  imposing  specimens  of 
church  architecture  in  America;  the  pulpit  in 
San  Bias  is  famed  as  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful in  the  world,  and  many  of  the  interiors 
and  cloisters,  particularly  of  La  Merced, 
where  the  remains  of  Almagro  and  two  of 

350 


CHURCH    OF    LA    MERCED.    LIMA  —  TYPE    OF    RELIGIOUS    ARCHITECTURE    OF 
SPANISH    COLONIAL    PERIOD. 


PERU 

Pizarro's  brothers  lie,  and  the  patio  of  the 
university,  are  perfectly  superb. 

Of  course,  like  La  Paz,  Quito,  Bogota 
and  many  of  the  other  old  mountain  cities, 
which  until  very  recently  were  isolated  so 
far  as  the  outside  world  was  concerned  be- 
cause of  their  inaccessible  locations,  Cuzco  is 
still  behind  the  times  in  sanitary  arrange- 
ments. Since  there  is  surface  drainage,  there 
are  odors,  but  one  need  have  little  fear  of 
any  ill  effects  in  such  a  climate  as  theirs. 
Thanks  to  it,  the  cities  are  as  healthful  as 
most;  and  to  the  archaeologist  and  the  lover 
of  art  and  the  beauties  of  nature  in  her  sub- 
limest  aspect,  there  is  no  more  fascinating 
city  in  South  America  than  Cuzco. 


351 


IX 


ECUADOR 

ECUADOR,  "the  Switzerland  of  Ameri- 
ca," is  one  of  the  smallest  of  our  sister 
republics  in  the  South,  yet  her  area, 
of  116,000  square  miles,  is  equal  to  that  of 
our  States  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas  com- 
bined, and,  if  certain  pending  boundary  dis- 
putes should  be  determined  in  her  favor,  her 
territory  would  be  more  than  doubled.    Her 
population  is  now  about  1,500,000,  an  average 
of  a  little  over  twelve  to  the  square  mile. 

Politically,  the  republic  is  divided  into 
sixteen  provinces,  not  including  the  Gal- 
apagos Islands.  Five  are  maritime,  occupy- 
ing the  strip  of  coast  between  the  West- 
ern Cordillera  and  the  sea,  ten  are  inter- 
andine,  and  then  there  is  the  Oriente,  so 
called,  which  consists  of  all  the  country  em- 
braced in  the  slope  between  the  Eastern 
Cordillera  and  the  Brazilian  frontier,  in  the 
valley  of  the  Amazon.  There  are  two  fluvial 

352 


ECUADOR 

systems,  both  rising  in  the  mountains;  one 
flowing  west  to  the  sea  and  the  other  down 
the  eastern  slope.  In  all  they  are  composed 
of  ninety-one  rivers.  Those  tributary  to  the 
Guayas,  flowing  westward  to  the  sea,  and 
many  of  which  are  of  considerable  size,  are 
now  of  the  greater  commercial  importance 
because  the  country  of  the  Oriente,  through 
which  those  tributary  to  the  Amazon  flow, 
is  still  a  wilderness,  only  sparsely  inhabited 
even  by  what  are  left  of  the  aborigines — and 
this  although  it  is  the  richest  of  all  in  vege- 
tation and  fertility  of  soil,  like  the  adjoining 
Montana  district  of  Peru. 

Thus,  ranging  as  it  does  from  the  sea-level 
of  the  coast  on  one  side  and  the  valley  of  the 
Amazon  on  the  other  to  the  high  interandine 
plateau,  and  from  thence  to  the  great  cloud- 
piercing  peaks  of  the  cordilleras,  crowned 
with  perpetual  snow,  this  country  directly 
beneath  the  Equator,  from  which  it  derives 
its  very  name,  is  possessed,  as  are  Peru,  Bo- 
livia, and  Colombia,  of  every  variety  of  climate 
within  the  sphere  of  a  few  hours'  journey — in 
the  lowlands,  the  eternal  summer  of  the  trop- 
ics; on  the  high  table-lands,  eternal  spring, 
and,  in  the  glacial  regions  of  the  mountain 

353 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

summits,  winter  without  end.  As  the  late  Pro- 
fessor Orton  so  aptly  put  it:  "As  the  Ecua- 
dorian sees  all  the  constellations  of  the  firma- 
ment, so  nature  surrounds  him  with  represen- 
tatives of  every  family  of  plants.  Tropical, 
temperate  and  arctic  fruits  and  flowers  are 
here  found  in  profusion,  or  could  be 
successfully  cultivated.  There  are  places 
where  the  eye  can  embrace  an  entire  zone,  for 
it  may  look  up  to  a  wheat  or  barley  field  or 
potato  patch  and  down  to  the  sugar  cane 
and  pineapple." 

And,  in  addition  to  the  familiar  products, 
in  many  places  the  slopes  of  the  mountains 
between  twelve  and  fifteen  thousand  feet  are 
clothed  with  a  shrub  peculiar  to  the  high 
altitudes  of  the  Andes,  called  chuquiragua, 
the  twigs  of  which  are  used  for  fuel  and  the 
yellow  buds  as  a  febrifuge.  In  the  valleys 
between  the  Cordilleras  a  very  useful  and  val- 
uable, as  well  as  the  most  ordinary,  plant  is 
the  American  aloe,  or  century  plant,  which 
under  cultivation,  however,  blooms  oftener 
than  once  in  a  hundred  years.  It  is  the  lar- 
gest of  all  the  herbs,  and,  with  its  tall  stem 
rising  from  a  cluster  of  long,  thick,  grace- 
fully curved  leaves,  looks  like  a  great 

354 


ECUADOR 

chandelier.  Most  of  the  roads  are  fenced 
with  hedges  of  them.  Nearly  every  part  is 
said  to  serve  some  practical  purpose.  The 
broad  leaves  are  used  for  thatching  huts  and 
by  the  poorer  classes  as  a  substitute  for  paper 
in  writing;  a  sirup  flows  from  them  when 
tapped;  as  they  contain  much  alkali,  a  soap 
that  lathers  in  salt  water  as  well  as  fresh  is 
manufactured  from  them;  the  fiber  of  the 
leaves  and  roots  is  woven  into  sandals  and 
sacks;  the  flowers  make  excellent  pickles,  the 
stock  is  used  in  building,  the  pith  of  the  stem 
is  used  by  barbers  for  sharpening  razors  and 
the  spines  as  needles.  A  species  of  yucca, 
resembling  the  aloe,  yields  the  hemp  of  Ecua- 
dor. 

In  the  lowlands,  cacao  and  sugar  cane,  cof- 
fee, tobacco,  rice,  cotton,  and  bananas  and 
other  tropical  fruits  are  grown.  The  forests 
contain  rubber  and  numerous  species  of  use- 
ful trees,  among  them  the  tree  that  yields 
what  is  known  as  the  taque  nut,  or  vegetable 
ivory,  from  which  buttons  are  made,  the 
grasses  and  toquilla  palm  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  the  coarser  grades  of  Panama 
hats,  the  chincona  from  the  bark  of  which 
quinine  is  obtained,  the  mangrove  cultivated 

355 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

for  tanning  purposes  as  well  as  its  fruit, 
and  the  silk-cotton  tree  that  yields  the  val- 
uable commercial  product  known  as  kapok. 
A  considerable  portion  of  the  Oriente  is 
verdured  with  a  part  of  that  immense  forest 
which  extends  in  an  unbroken  mass  from  the 
grassy  llanos  of  Venezuela  to  the  pampas  of 
Argentina.  In  other  sections  of  the  country 
are  gold,  silver,  copper,  iron,  coal,  petroleum, 
asphalt  and  other  minerals,  though  since  the 
colonial  regime  there  has  been  little  activity 
in  mining.  Only  a  few  years  ago  work  was 
resumed  in  the  famous  mines  of  Zaruma, 
formerly  the  source  of  much  revenue  to  the 
Spaniards. 

Ecuador  has  a  treasury  of  wealth  in  her 
vast  cacao  groves.  The  cacao  tree,  which 
grows  wild  in  the  forests,  is  from  sixteen  to 
forty  feet  high  and  bears  a  fruit  in  which  the 
beans  lie  buried  in  a  cucumber-shaped  pod 
five  to  ten  inches  long  and  three  or  four  inches 
thick.  The  bean  itself  in  its  raw  state  re- 
sembles a  thick  almond.  When  ripe,  the  pods 
are  cut  from  the  tree  by  means  of  a  knife  with 
a  curved  blade,  set  on  the  end  of  a  long  pole, 
an  implement  specially  designed  to  remove 
them  without  injury.  The  pods  are  then 

356 


ECUADOR 

gathered  in  heaps  and  left  on  the  ground  to 
dry  for  a  day  or  two  before  the  beans  are 
removed  and  cured.  From  cacao  comes  cocoa. 
The  name  "cacao"  signifies  the  raw,  and 
"cocoa"  the  finished  product.  There  is  still 
another  name — coca — which  is  often  con- 
fused with  these,  but  coca  is  nothing  like 
cacao.  Coca  is  the  Peruvian  plant  from  the 
leaves  of  which  cocaine  is  extracted.  The 
cacao  bean  contains  the  cocoa  we  drink  at  our 
breakfast  tables,  and  our  chocolate. 

On  the  skill  employed  in  the  curing, 
which  is  an  extremely  delicate  process,  to 
a  great  extent  depends  the  quality  of  the 
output  and  its  flavor  and  color.  When  ready 
for  the  market,  the  bean  is  dark  red  outside 
and  chocolate  tinted  within.  Analyses  show 
that  it  is  rich  in  fats,  albuminoids,  caffeine 
and  theobromine,  which  last  is  what  imparts 
to  it  its  principal  characteristics.  What  we 
know  as  chocolate  differs  from  cocoa  in  that, 
in  the  former  compound,  the  cocoa  butter 
is  not  extracted;  from  the  latter  it  is. 
Cocoa  is  really  a  factory  product.  The  cured 
bean  is  treated  differently  in  the  various 
countries  to  suit  the  taste  of  the  public,  and 
chocolate  also  is  prepared  in  different  ways 

357 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

for  the  various  uses.    American  and  French 
chocolates  are  sold  all  over  the  world. 

The  tobacco  grown  in  the  Province  of  Es- 
meraldas  on  the  coast  is  claimed  to  be  com- 
parable with  that  produced  in  Cuba.  And 
this  reminds  me  that,  unless  tradition  is  at 
fault,  the  town  of  Atacames,  from  around 
which  some  of  the  best  of  it  comes,  has  quite 
a  unique  history  of  its  own.  In  1623,  so  the 
story  goes,  a  vessel  laden  with  seven  hundred 
African  slaves  was  on  its  way  from  Panama 
to  Peru,  where  they  were  to  be  worked  in 
the  mines.  When  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Esmeralda  River,  they  mutinied,  massacred 
the  officers  and  sailors  of  the  ship,  and,  land- 
ing at  Atacames,  took  possession  of  the  town 
and  killed  or  drove  away  every  man  in  the 
neighborhood,  Indian  or  Spanish,  but  spared 
the  women,  whom  they  kept  as  wives.  After- 
ward, however,  instead  of  indulging  in  further 
depredations,  they  kept  within  the  territory 
they  had  conquered,  and,  mixing  with  the 
Cayapas,  who  had  attained  an  unusual  state 
of  civilization  for  lowland  Indians  before  the 
invasion,  became  miners  and  agriculturists  on 
their  own  account.  These  African  mutineers, 
therefore,  protected  by  the  reputation  for 

358 


ECUADOR 

ferocity  they  had  acquired  in  their  stroke  for 
freedom,  were  thus  the  founders  of  what 
afterward  became  an  intelligent  and  indus- 
trious community.  The  women,  particularly, 
are  famous  for  their  skill  in  making  Panama 
hats. 

Indeed,  aside  from  agriculture,  the  most 
important  industry  in  all  the  coast  provinces 
is  the  making  of  these  hats.  Guayaquil  long 
since  supplanted  Panama  as  the  principal 
market  for  them.  Those  of  the  finest  texture, 
the  ones  that  are  so  soft  and  delicately  woven 
that  they  can  be  folded  and  put  in  a  coat 
pocket  like  a  handkerchief  and  will  last  a 
lifetime,  are  made  of  a  peculiar  grass  called 
jipi-japa,  for  which  the  town  in  the  Province 
of  Manavi  is  named,  and,  in  the  weaving  of 
them,  considerable  time  and  great  skill  is 
required.  These  we  seldom,  if  ever,  see  in 
this  country.  Many  go  to  Paris,  Italy,  and 
Spain;  more  are  taken  by  the  planters  along 
the  coast,  and  in  Cuba,  who  are  willing  to 
pay  as  much  as  $80  to  $100  for  them.  They 
are  woven  by  the  women  by  hand,  and  only 
in  the  moonlight,  these  best  grades,  because 
the  sun  would  harden  the  material,  artificial 
light  would  attract  insects,  and  the  dampness 

359 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

that  comes  with  sunset  is  necessary  to  give 
the  flexibility  so  essential  to  their  beauty. 
The  coarser  grades,  such  as  we  see  here, 
are  woven  in  the  daytime,  but  under  water, 
in  tubs. 

Guayaquil,  a  city  of  about  50,000  inhabi- 
tants, is  Ecuador's  principal  seaport,  and, 
next  to  Valparaiso  and  Callao,  the  busiest 
and  most  important  on  the  Pacific  side  of 
the  continent.  All  the  way  up  from  Callao 
the  steamer  hugs  the  shore  as  closely  as  safety 
will  permit.  There  is  little  change  in  the 
view.  The  same  arid  strip  of  low-lying  coast 
land,  dotted  with  rocky  promontories,  fringed 
here  and  there  with  cliffs  and  crossed  with 
occasional  stretches  of  green  where  the  rivers 
flow  through  to  the  sea,  continues  day  after 
day — the  same  background  of  mountains  ris- 
ing tier  on  tier  for  thousands  and  thousands 
of  feet,  in  the  morning  partly  obscured  by 
heavy  banks  of  clouds  that  later  melt  away 
and  leave  the  rugged  contour  sharply  silhou- 
etted against  the  bright  blue,  are  bathed  in 
the  evening,  as  the  sun  sinks  toward  the 
horizon,  in  the  purple  haze  that  becomes  them 
best.  Yet  there  are  also  the  same  calm  sea 
and  rainless  sky  and  the  same  cool,  aromatic 

360 


ECUADOR 

breezes  that  make  the  lazy  hours  on  deck  a 
continual  delight. 

And  so  it  is  with  mixed  feelings  of  regret 
and  relief  that  one  enters  the  Gulf  of  Guaya- 
quil— relief,  for  here,  as  we  steam  past  the 
island  of  Puna,  where  Pizarro  camped  for 
months  awaiting  reinforcements  before  begin- 
ning the  conquest  of  Peru,  the  aspect  of  the 
shore  line  changes  and  we  see  foliage  as  fresh 
and  green  and  as  wildly  luxuriant  as  any  in 
the  basins  of  the  interior.  Passing  the  island, 
we  come  to  the  mouth  of  the  Guayas,  the 
greatest  of  South  American  rivers  emptying 
into  the  Pacific.  The  city  is  sixty  miles 
beyond  at  the  head  of  the  estuary.  The  first 
glimpse  we  catch  is  of  a  street,  called  El 
Malecon,  that  extends  along  the  water  front 
for  two  miles  or  more  from  a  shipyard  to  a 
hill  crowned  by  a  fortress.  This  is  at  once 
the  principal  shopping,  cafe,  and  amusement 
place,  the  favorite  promenade,  the  warehouse 
district,  and  the  quay  where  the  lighters  that 
ply  between  it  and  the  vessels  anchored  out 
in  the  river  take  on  and  unload  their  cargoes. 
It  is  faced  with  what  from  the  deck  appear 
to  be  long  rows  of  white  stone  and  marble 
buildings  of  beautiful  and  graceful  archi- 

361 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

tectural  design,  for  the  most  part  of  the  usual 
Moorish  type.  Long  series  of  arcades  in 
front  of  the  shops  remind  one  of  those  of 
the  Rue  de  Rivoli  in  Paris;  above  are  pretty 
balconies  sheltered  by  blinds  and  awnings 
of  gaily  colored  canvas,  screening  groups  of 
ladies  who  like  to  sit  in  them  and  watch  the 
lively  scene  below  as  they  sip  their  coffee  and 
chat. 

But  picturesque  as  it  all  is,  one  finds  on 
going  ashore,  that  the  walls  of  these  imposing- 
looking  edifices  are  merely  shells  of  split 
bamboo,  plastered  with  cement,  ornamented 
with  stucco  and  painted  to  resemble  marble 
and  stone,  which  sad  experience  has  taught 
the  people  of  the  city  will  not  resist  earth- 
quakes as  well  as  this  more  elastic  imita- 
tion they  have  been  compelled  to  substitute. 
The  residences  of  the  well-to-do  are  con- 
structed of  the  same  materials  and  with  wide 
verandas  from  ground  to  roof,  enclosed  with 
Venetian  blinds.  Few  are  elaborately  fur- 
nished. In  that  climate  it  is  thought  better, 
for  the  sake  of  spaciousness  and  comfort,  to 
forego  evidences  of  wealth  in  the  form  of 
carpets,  hangings,  and  upholstery,  which  keep 
out  air  and  retain  the  heat.  The  poor  of  the 

362 


STREET    SCENE    IN    GUAYAQUIL. 


CONDOR    OF    THE    ANDES. 


ECUADOR 

suburbs  have  thatched  bamboo  or  adobe  huts 
with  floors  of  hardened  earth.  As  in  Canton, 
China,  many  of  them  live  on  the  water  on 
rafts  made  from  balsa,  a  species  of  timber 
nearly  as  buoyant  as  cork,  or  else  of  hollow 
trunks  of  bamboo.  A  number  of  logs,  forty 
or  fifty  feet  long,  are  lashed  together  in 
such  a  way  that  they  can  be  propelled  by 
either  oars  or  sails,  and  a  bamboo  hut  is 
built  in  the  center.  These  often  serve  as  the 
homes  of  whole  families  for  generations,  and 
are  so  substantial  that  they  are  used  in  the 
coasting  as  well  as  the  river  trade  for  bring- 
ing produce  to  market. 

In  June,  1908,  a  long-desired  and  much 
needed  railroad  was  completed  between  Guay- 
aquil and  the  capital,  Quito,  way  up  in  the 
interandine  table-land,  9350  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  and  now  the  trip  of  nearly 
three  hundred  miles,  that  formerly  took  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  days  on  mule-back,  and  often 
more  by  foot,  may  be  made  in  two  days,  in 
a  comfortably  equipped  passenger  train.  The 
scenery  en  route  is  gorgeous.  The  train 
speeds  through  forests  of  stately  trees  like 
those  of  the  Amazon — walnut,  mahogany, 
rubber,  cacao,  cottonwood,  with  vines  en- 

363 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

twined  around  their  trunks  and  hanging  from 
their  branches,  and  beds  of  mosses  and  ferns 
at  their  feet,  slender  bamboos  shooting  up 
straight  as  an  arrow,  and  tall,  graceful  palms, 
tipped  with  feathery  tufts — the  whole  mass 
aglow  with  scarlet  passion  flowers  and  or- 
chids, and  blossoms  of  every  hue.  Then  come 
broad  fields  covered  with  prickly  pineapple 
plants,  sugar  cane,  coffee  and  snowy  cotton 
plantations  and  groves  of  cocoanut  palms, 
oranges,  lemons,  and  limes  saturating  the  air 
with  their  delicious  fragrance,  splendid  mango 
trees  with  their  golden  fruit  and  dense  foliage 
that  makes  them  the  best  of  all  shade  trees  in 
the  tropics,  and  groves  of  banana  trees,  toss- 
ing out  glossy  green  leaves  eight  feet  long 
from  their  sheathlike  stalks,  and  many  bear- 
ing bunches  of  this  bread  of  the  poor  and 
delicacy  of  the  rich  that  weigh  from  sixty 
to  seventy  pounds.  Von  Humboldt  calcu- 
lated that  "thirty-three  pounds  of  wheat  and 
ninety-nine  pounds  of  potatoes  require  as 
much  space  of  ground  as  will  produce  four 
thousand  pounds  of  bananas."  They  bear  fruit 
but  once  and  die,  but  the  roots  are  perennial 
and  every  year  bring  forth  new  plants. 
Then,  when  the  traveler  has  crossed  the 
364 


ECUADOR 

coast  strip,  he  comes  to  the  foothills  and  be- 
gins the  steep,  tortuous  ascent.  On  either 
side  of  this  highland  but  ever  green  series  of 
plateaux,  crossed  by  nudos  and  ascending  like 
steps  to  the  one  in  which  the  capital  lies, 
tower  mountains,  the  crests  of  forty-two  of 
which  are  more  than  ten  thousand  feet  high. 
Twenty  of  them  are  higher  than  Pike's  Peak 
in  Colorado;  fourteen  are  higher  than  the 
Alpine  giant,  Mont  Blanc.  It  was  in  this 
vast,  magnificent  "Avenue  of  Volcanoes"  that 
the  celebrated  artist,  Frederick  E.  Church, 
painted  his  wonderful  picture,  "The  Heart  of 
the  Andes."  Here,  he  declared,  is  the  grand- 
est mountain  scenery  in  the  world. 

The  most  majestic  of  them  all  is  snow- 
covered  Chimborazo,  near  the  center  of  the 
Western  Cordillera,  and  fortunately  almost 
constantly  in  view,  for  it  is  along  its  spurs 
that  the  road  between  Guayaquil  and  Quito 
ascends.  One  would  not  imagine  its  summit 
so  very  hard  to  reach,  as  it  appears  from  the 
mountain  pass  at  an  elevation  of  fourteen 
thousand  feet;  yet  many  explorers,  from  Von 
Humboldt  down,  strove  for  the  honor,  only 
to  fail  until  Edward  Whymper,  an  English- 
man, finally  achieved  it  in  1879.  For  years, 

365 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

with  its  known  altitude  of  21,420  feet,  it  was 
famed  as  the  highest  point  in  America;  now 
the  mighty  Aconcagua  in  Argentina,  which 
is  recorded  at  the  Harvard  Observatory  at 
Arequipa  as  measuring  24,760  feet,  has  been 
awarded  the  palm.  It  is  from  shipboard  on 
the  Pacific,  though,  on  a  clear  day,  rather 
than  from  the  plateau,  that  Chimborazo  is 
to  be  seen  in  all  the  majesty  of  its  complete 
proportions,  particularly  when  the  evening 
shadow's  mellowing  tint  creeps  upward  to 
the  summit — a  vision  of  gold,  vermilion,  pur- 
ple, followed  by  the  glory  of  the  brief  tropical 
sunset — in  the  few  minutes  before  darkness 
covers  the  earth  and  "the  haste  of  stars, 
trembling  with  excess  of  light,  bursts  sud- 
denly into  view  over  the  peaks,"  when  the 
waters  of  the  sea  become  so  impregnated  with 
phosphorescent  flashes  that  each  wave  seems 
tipped  with  silver  and  the  foam  that  follows 
in  the  vessel's  wake  is  like  a  stream  of  fire. 

Conspicuous  among  the  crests  of  the  east- 
ern range  are  Tunguragua,  with  its  perfect 
cone  and  great  cataract  tumbling  down  fif- 
teen hundred  feet  from  the  snow  line  to  the 
valley  beneath;  fierce,  Plutonic  Sangai,  the 
most  active  volcano  in  the  world;  and  the 

366 


ECUADOR 

beautiful  Altar,  as  it  was  called  by  the  Span- 
iards, which  is  said  to  have  been  higher  than 
Chimborazo  a  few  years  before  the  Conquest, 
but  has  since  collapsed.  Now  its  summit  pre- 
sents the  appearance  of  a  superb  crown, 
pointed  with  eight  jagged  peaks;  its  snowy 
mantle  is  relieved  by  rents  or  fissures  in  the 
rock  that  seem  to  be  colored  dark  blue  in  con- 
trast with  the  white. 

And  then  there  is  the  still  more  superb 
Cotopaxi,  19,613  feet,  without  a  rival  in 
height  or  symmetry  among  the  active  vol- 
canoes of  the  old  world.  Some  faint 
idea  of  its  grandeur  may  be  conceived  by  those 
who  have  seen  Vesuvius,  for  instance,  when 
it  is  realized  that  it  is  more  than  fifteen 
thousand  feet — nearly  three  miles — higher, 
and  that,  when  in  eruption,  it  vomits  forth  its 
fires,  with  ominous  rumblings  that  can  be 
heard  for  a  hundred  miles,  from  a  cone  which 
itself  is  higher  than  Vesuvius.  Mr.  Whym- 
per,  who  also  succeeded  here  in  making  the 
perilous  ascent  where  Von  Humboldt  and 
others  had  failed,  described  the  crater  as  an 
enormous  amphitheater  with  a  rugged  crest 
surrounded  by  overhanging  cliffs,  some  snow- 
clad,  others  encrusted  with  sulphur. 

367 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

"Cavernous  recesses,"  he  says,  "belched 
forth  smoke;  the  sides  of  the  cracks  and 
chasms  shone  with  ruddy  light.  At  the 
bottom,  probably  twelve  thousand  feet  below 
us,  there  was  a  ruddy  circular  spot  about 
one-tenth  the  diameter  of  the  crater;  it  was 
the  pipe  of  the  volcano,  its  channel  of  com- 
munication with  the  lower  regions,  and  was 
filled  with  incandescent  if  not  molten  lava, 
glowing  and  burning,  lighted  by  tongues  of 
flame  that  issued  from  cracks  in  the  sur- 
rounding slopes."  On  the  side  of  the  moun- 
tain is  a  huge  rock  called  the  "Inca's  Head." 
Tradition  has  it  that  this  was  the  original 
summit,  hurled  down  by  an  eruption  on  the 
very  day  that  Pizarro  caused  Atahualpa  to  be 
strangled.  The  great  eruption  of  1859  was 
succeeded  by  an  earthquake  that  wrought  ter- 
rible destruction  and  loss  of  life,  and  by  a 
tidal  wave,  which  in  its  devastating  course 
carried  a  United  States  warship  a  mile  inland, 
over  the  roofs  of  the  houses  of  a  town  on 
the  coast  of  Peru  and  left  it  high  and  dry 
on  a  sandy  plain.  Just  now  the  volcano  is 
in  a  state  of  "solemn  and  thoughtful  sus- 
pense"; only  thin  clouds  of  smoke  escape 
from  its  crater. 

368 


ECUADOR 

At  the  base  of  Pichincha,  the  crater  of 
which  the  astronomer,  La  Condamine,  likened 
to  the  "chaos  of  the  poets,"  and  Orton  de- 
scribes as  "a  frightful  abyss  nearly  a  mile 
in  width  and  a  half  mile  deep  from  which  a 
cloud  of  sulphurous  vapors  comes  rolling  up," 
lies  the  city  of  Quito.  Its  origin  is  shrouded 
in  mystery,  but  we  know  that  at  the  time  of 
the  Conquest  it  was  the  northern  stronghold 
of  the  great  Inca  empire,  and  the  place  where 
Atahualpa  resided.  On  this  lofty  site,  which 
in  the  Alps  would  be  buried  in  an  avalanche 
of  snow,  but  in  the  tropics  enjoys  an  eternal 
spring,  palaces  more  beautiful  than  the 
Alhambra  are  said  to  have  been  built,  glit- 
tering with  the  gold  and  emeralds  of  the 
region.  But  all  this  passed  away  with  the 
scepter  of  Atahualpa.  Where  the  pavilion 
of  the  Inca  stood  is  now  a  gloomy  convent; 
a  wheat  field  takes  the  place  of  the  Temple 
of  the  Sun.  Even  the  Spanish  structures 
that  supplanted  the  original  ones  seem  dilap- 
idated enough.  The  population  is  said  to 
number  about  sixty-five  thousand,  but  there 
is  little  of  the  modern  and  still  less  in  the  way 
of  opportunity  for  amusement,  though  it  is 
all  most  interesting  simply  because  it  is  so  old 

369 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

and  because  there  is  much  of  romance  in  its 
history. 

The  train  emerges  from  the  pass  on  to  the 
plain  of  Riobamba,  the  scene  of  many  notable 
events  in  the  history  of  the  country.  Here 
it  was  that  the  great  Inca  conqueror  Tupac 
Yupanqui  routed  the  Shiri  of  the  Caras  and 
began  the  conquest  of  his  possessions;  it  was 
here  that  Atahualpa's  great  general,  Quiz- 
quiz,  defeated  the  army  of  the  Inca  Huascar 
and  proceeded  to  the  invasion  of  Peru;  it  was 
here  that  the  daring  Conquistador  Sebastian 
de  Benalcazar  defeated  the  victors  and 
brought  the  Kingdom  of  Quito  under  the  sway 
of  Pizarro.  The  city  of  Riobamba,  which  is 
the  first  of  importance  on  the  line,  is  also  said 
to  have  been  the  birthplace  of  the  eminent  his- 
torian Juan  de  Velasco  and  several  others  of 
South  America's  most  distinguished  sons.  It 
has  a  population  of  only  twelve  or  fifteen 
thousand,  but,  thanks  to  the  demand  created 
by  commercial  travelers  and  the  employees 
of  the  railroad,  it  serves  as  an  excellent  rest- 
ing place,  for  there  are  two  or  three  very 
tolerable  hotels.  From  this  point  on  to  Quito, 
there  are  parts  of  the  plain  that  are  arid 
and  desolate.  This  is  attributed  partly  to 

370 


ECUADOR 

the  fact  that  so  much  of  the  country  was 
long  ago  denuded  of  its  trees  and  partly  to 
volcanic  eruptions  of  a  peculiar  kind. 
Describing  one  of  them,  Mozans  says: 

"But,  destructive  as  are  the  eruptions  of  the  vol- 
cano when  it  belches  forth  ashes,  cinders,  and  lava, 
it  is  even  more  so  when  its  terrific  operations  are 
followed  by  deluges  of  water  and  avalanches  of  mud, 
carrying  along  with  them  immense  blocks  of  ice  and 
rock  to  great  distances,  causing  death  and  devasta- 
tion all  along  their  course.  Such  an  eruption  took 
place  in  1877,  and,  so  great  was  the  velocity  of  the 
angry  flood,  that  it  swept  the  plain  with  the  momen- 
tum of  an  express  train,  carrying  before  it  bridges, 
buildings,  and  everything  that  stood  in  its  path.  The 
very  day  of  the  eruption  the  irresistible  torrent 
reached  the  mouth  of  the  Esmeralda  River,  nearly 
three  hundred  miles  distant.  The  catastrophe  had 
been  announced  the  preceding  evening  by  an  enor- 
mous column  of  black  ashes,  which  the  roaring  moun- 
tain projected  more  than  three  miles  above  the  crater, 
and  which  an  east  wind  carried  far  out  over  the 
Pacific.  Vessels  going  from  Guayaquil  to  Panama 
were  suddenly  enveloped  in  a  cloud  of  dust  and 
transmitted  to  Europe  and  the  United  States  the  first 
news  of  the  disaster.  After  this  eruption  of  ash,  there 
was  a  welling  of  molten  lava  over  the  rim  of  the 
crater  which  melted  the  ice  and  snow  and  transformed 
them  at  once  into  tremendous  avalanches  of  mud.  At 
the  same  time  immense  blocks  of  ice  were  transported 
across  the  plain  of  Latacunga  to  a  distance  of  thirty 
miles,  where  they  remained  several  months  before  they 

371 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

were  entirely  melted.  The  foregoing  is  only  one  of 
many  similar  eruptions  that  occurred  during  the  last 
century." 

"But  why,  it  will  be  asked,  do  people  live 
in  a  land  in  which  they  are  constantly  ex- 
posed to  such  sudden  and  awful  disasters?" 
he  continues — "where  thousands  of  victims 
are  sacrificed  in  a  single  moment?  Why  do 
people  cling  around  the  rich  flanks  of  Kilauea 
and  Mauna  Loa  and  huddle  around  the 
treacherous  slopes  of  vine-clad  Etna  and 
Vesuvius,  or  pitch  their  tents  on  quaking, 
incandescent  Stromboli?  Let  philosophers 
reply."  But,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Quito 
itself  no  more  of  these  arid  stretches  are  to  be 
seen.  "Notwithstanding  the  ever-menacing 
volcano  towering  above  it,  Quito,"  he  tells  us, 
"was  always  to  the  Ecuadorian  of  the  interior 
one  of  the  world's  most  favored  cities.  It  was 
what  Damascus  and  Bagdad  in  their  halcyon 
days  were  to  the  Arabs,  what  Cordova  and 
Granada  were  to  the  Moors.  It  was  'Quito 
bonito' — charming  Quito — the  city  above  the 
clouds,  'the  navel  of  the  world,  the  home  of  the 
continua  primavera — perpetual  spring — ever- 
green, magnificent  Quito.'  It  was  like 
Heaven — Como  de  Cielo — where  there  is 

372 


ECUADOR 

neither  heat  nor  cold.  It  was  the  Paradise  of 
delights.  Had  Columbus  discovered  the 
beautiful  valley  which  it  overlooks,  he  would, 
we  are  assured,  have  pronounced  it  the  site 
of  the  Garden  of  Eden." 

After  Lima  and  Santiago,  the  suburbs 
strike  one  as  rather  squalid  and  dilapidated. 
In  the  city  proper,  however,  the  houses  im- 
prove in  size  and  finish  and  continue  to 
improve  until  the  Grand  Plaza  is  reached  in 
the  center.  The  more  pretentious  are  of 
two  stories,  a  few  three,  and  of  massive  con- 
struction, with  adobe  walls  two  or  three  feet 
thick  and  tiled  roofs,  and  are  built  around  a 
square  courtyard,  or  patio,  in  the  old  Spanish 
style,  often  with  a  fountain  or  flower  plot  in 
the  center.  Here,  too,  around  the  patios  are 
pillared  arches  supporting  galleries  used  as  the 
passage  way  to  rooms  in  the  upper  tier;  the 
floors  are  paved  with  large,  square,  red  bricks. 
The  public  buildings,  some  of  them  dating 
back  to  Philip  II,  are  clustered  about  the 
three  plazas.  The  most  imposing,  the  capitol, 
a  low  building  adorned  with  a  splendid  col- 
onnade, faces  the  Grand  Plaza.  With  its 
long  rows  of  columns  it  looks  a  little  like  the 
Fifteenth  Street  side  of  the  Treasury  Build- 

373 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

ing  in  Washington.  To  the  right  of  it  is  an 
ancient  but  beautiful  cathedral;  on  the  other 
side  is  the  palace  of  the  Papal  Nuncio.  All 
are  fine  specimens  of  the  architecture  of  the 
periods  in  which  they  were  built. 

The  scene  in  the  shopping  district  and 
around  the  market  has  quite  an  Egyptian 
flavor.  The  shops  are  very  small  and  ex- 
posed; groups  in  gay  ponchos  stand  chatting 
and  smoking  in  front  of  them  or  lean  idly 
against  the  walls,  enjoying  the  sunlight; 
soldiers  saunter  to  and  fro;  Indians,  in  every 
variety  of  costume,  are  scattered  about  guard- 
ing heaps  of  vegetables  they  have  brought 
in  from  the  surrounding  country  for  sale; 
bronze-complexioned  women  in  many-colored 
gowns  peddle  oranges  and  alligator  pears 
from  baskets  carried  on  their  heads;  pur- 
chasers, mostly  men  and  in  more  conventional 
attire,  wander  from  store  to  store,  for  it  is 
not  here  so  much  as  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
churches  that  one  is  favored  with  a  glimpse 
of  the  ladies  of  the  upper  class.  They  do 
little  shopping  themselves,  these  senoras  and 
senoritas,  yet  they  are  very  devout,  and  it  is 
their  custom  to  wrap  themselves  in  their  black 
mantillas  and  attend  mass  every  day. 

374 


COLOMBIA 

JOURNEYING  overland  into  Colombia 
from  Ecuador,  there  opens  before  the 
traveler  the  vast  mountainous  country 
that  was  once  the  ancient  kingdom  of  the 
Chibchas — the  contemporary  of  the  Inca  em- 
pire, and,  later  the  pivotal  state  of  Bolivar's 
great  confederation.  Colombia  occupies  the 
extreme  northwestern  corner  of  the  continent. 
With  its  465,714  square  miles  of  territory,  it 
is  as  large  as  Texas,  Kansas,  Arkansas  and 
Louisiana,  and  has  a  population  of  4,320,000. 
In  this  corner  of  the  continent  the  Andes 
come  to  an  end  in  a  great  splurge  of  deep- 
cut  ridges  presenting  an  aspect  very  different 
from  the  formations  to  the  south.  Here  three 
clearly  defined  ranges  diverge  from  the  Ecua- 
dorian frontier  and  spread  northward  like  the 
ribs  of  a  fan;  the  Western  and  Central  Cor- 
dilleras merge  before  reaching  the  Caribbean 
Sea,  and  slope  off  into  foothills  and  plains  near 

375 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

the  coast,  and  the  Eastern  Cordillera  con- 
tinues in  an  almost  unbroken  line  until,  as 
the  Sierra  de  Parija,  it  plunges  into  the  sea 
at  the  end  of  the  bleak,  forbidding  peninsula 
(Goajira)  west  of  the  Gulf  of  Maracaibo. 
Rising  from  the  Pacific,  on  the  west,  is  an 
almost  entirely  distinct  range,  separated  from 
the  Andean  terminals  by  the  great  basin  of 
the  Atrato  River,  and  running  along  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama  into  Central  America. 
Just  north  of  the  Ecuadorian  frontier  lies 
the  so-called  "Massif"  from  which  branch  off 
the  three  Cordilleras  just  mentioned,  and  in 
which  the  four  important  Colombian  river 
systems  have  their  source;  the  Patia  flowing 
westward  to  the  Pacific;  the  Caqueta,  east- 
ward, through  the  Amazon,  into  the  Atlantic, 
and  the  Cauca  and  Magdalena,  the  great  high- 
ways of  the  country,  flowing  northward  to  the 
Caribbean  on  either  side  of  the  Central  Cor- 
dillera, and  joining  their  floods  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  from  the  sea  in  the  hot, 
marshy  plains  of  the  Magdalena  basin. 

The  Eastern  Cordillera  slopes  off  into  the 
Orinoco  and  Amazon  plains — over  a  terri- 
tory constituting  two-thirds  of  the  republic's 
area — and  thus  gives  to  Colombia  the  same 

376 


COLOMBIA 

astonishing  range  of  productiveness  that  dis- 
tinguishes her  southern  neighbors  along  the 
Andean  chain.  Gold  is  scattered  literally  all 
over  the  Andean  ridges  and  is  picked  up 
along  the  streams  that  flow  into  the  lower 
levels.  Silver,  iron  and  lead  are  almost  as 
universally  present;  the  platinum  deposits 
are  surpassed  only  in  Russia;  the  emerald 
mines  of  Muzo,  seventy-five  miles  from  Bo- 
gota, have  been  famous  ever  since  the  bril- 
liant stones  were  torn  from  the  turban  crowns 
of  the  Indian  kings  by  the  Conquistadores, 
and  are  the  principal  source  of  the  world's 
supply;  the  salt  mines  and  pearl  fisheries  add 
largely  to  the  republic's  revenue. 

The  Review  Number  of  the  Pan  American 
Bulletin  (August,  1911)  says  of  the  emerald 
industry : 

"All,  or  very  nearly  all,  the  emeralds  mined  to-day 
come  from  Colombia.  And,  in  spite  of  the  supposed 
higher  value  of  diamonds,  the  emerald  is  the  most 
precious  of  gems.  Carat  for  carat,  a  flawless  emerald 
would  bring  perhaps  three  times  the  price  of  a  flaw- 
less diamond  in  the  jewelry  market.  India,  the  store- 
house of  precious  stones,  is  credited  with  producing 
the  first  emeralds,  but  the  oriental  emerald  is  not 
identical  with  the  modern  gem,  as  it  is  a  variety  of 
the  ruby,  of  a  green  color,  and  extremely  rare.  The 

377 


stone  that  adorned  Aaron's  armor,  described  in  the 
writings  of  Moses,  if  it  was  a  real  emerald  and  not  a 
carbuncle,  may  have  come  from  the  mines  of  Coptos 
in  Egypt,  which  furnished  the  ancients  with  the 
precious  green  gems.  Certain  of  these  old  mines  are 
known  as  'Cleopatra's  Mines,'  because  that  remark- 
able Egyptian  queen  is  supposed  to  have  obtained  her 
jewels  from  that  source.  Nero  wore  an  emerald  mon- 
ocle at  the  gladiatorial  combats  that  came  perhaps 
from  the  mines  of  Ethiopia.  The  Museum  of  Naples 
contains  fine  emeralds  taken  from  the  ruins  of  Pom- 
peii and  Herculaneum,  some  of  which  are  carved,  and 
the  history  of  this  gem  shows  that  it  was  highly 
treasured  from  the  earliest  recorded  times.  .  .  . 

"Mexico,  Peru,  and  Ecuador  were  ravished  of  their 
mineral  wealth ;  so  wonderful  emeralds,  as  part  of  the 
spoil,  found  their  way  into  the  treasury  of  the  Spanish 
kings.  Pizarro  and  Cortes  sent  the  first  emeralds 
from  the  New  World  to  Spain,  where  they  acquired 
the  name  'Spanish  emeralds.'  Tradition  has  it  that 
an  Aztec  gem  appropriated  by  Cortes  was  valued 
at  forty  thousand  ducats.  Another  wonderful  stone, 
the  size  of  an  ostrich  egg,  was  found  in  the  Manka 
Valley,  Peru,  where  the  Indians  worshiped  it  as  the 
Goddess  of  Emeralds.  The  Spanish  conquerors 
opened  up  the  mines  in  Colombia  in  1540,  enslaving 
the  Indians  to  work  them.  The  richest  mineral  areas 
were  those  of  Muzo  and  Cosquez,  about  75  miles  north 
of  Bogota,  at  an  elevation  of  about  6500  feet  above 
sea-level.  A  curious  fact  in  the  history  of  these  latter 
mines  is  that  they  were  closed  and  lost  to  the  world 
in  an  enveloping  forest  of  jungle  for  over  a  hundred 
years,  and  only  rediscovered  some  fourteen  years  ago. 
The  Government  of  Colombia  controls  the  exploita- 

378 


COLOMBIA 

tion,  leasing  the  mining  districts  to  the  working  com- 
panies. 

"The  Muzo  group,  from  which  the  finest  emeralds 
come,  has  an  estimated  yearly  output  of  262,548 
carats  of  the  first  class,  467,690  of  the  second,  22,700 
of  the  third,  and  16,000  of  the  fourth  class.  The 
Coscuez  group,  named  for  an  Indian  princess,  which 
produced  a  variety  of  emerald  called  canutillo,  one  of 
the  most  valuable  stones,  is  now  in  the  category  of 
lost  mines.  The  Samandoco  or  Chivor  group,  not 
now  being  worked,  is  supposed  to  possess  a  matrix 
that  would  yield  half  a  million  dollars  worth  of  em- 
eralds a  year.  ...  It  was"  (in  the  Muzo  group) 
"that  the  most  valuable  single  emerald  in  the  world 
was  found.  It  belongs  to  the  Duke  of  Devonshire 
and  is  a  perfect,  six-sided  crystal  that  weighs  8 
ounces  18  pennyweights,  is  two  inches  in  length  and 
measures  across  its  three  thicknesses  21/2»  2^-,  and 
1%  inches.  Another  fine  stone  is  the  Hope  emerald, 
weighing  6  ounces,  which  was  also  found  in  Colombia. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  source  of  wealth  will 
be  greatly  augmented  in  the  future,  when  improved 
transportation  facilities  shall  make  it  possible." 

A  wealth  of  agricultural  products,  typical 
of  nearly  every  clime,  lies  in  the  great  river 
basins  and  on  the  eastern  slopes  and  plains  in 
the  Orinoco  and  Amazon  regions.  In  the 
river  basins  and  part  of  the  way  up  the  moun- 
tain sides  are  great  forests,  so  dense  as  to 
be  almost  impenetrable,  but  abounding  in 
nearly  every  species  of  cabinet  and  dye  woods 

379 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

and  nearly  every  medicinal  plant  known  to 
science.  In  altitudes  of  from  two  to  four 
thousand  feet  the  coffee  plant  thrives ;  the  ber- 
ries from  the  celebrated  Chimbi  estates  are 
said  to  produce  the  most  delicately  flavored 
coffee  in  the  world.  But  little  of  it  ever 
reaches  the  United  States.  In  the  tierras 
calientes,  or  "hot  lands,"  the  fragrant  tonka 
beans,  that  have  the  sweet  odor  of  new-mown 
hay  and  are  used  in  some  blends  of  tobacco 
to  give  it  a  bouquet  and  in  the  manufacture  of 
soaps  and  perfumes,  and  cacao,  bananas,  yuc- 
cas, arracha,  sugar,  indigo,  tobacco,  vanilla 
and  rice  are  among  the  staple  products.  The 
soil  of  this  region  is  of  a  rich,  black,  deep-lying 
loam,  well  watered  and  capable  of  a  greater 
productiveness  than  the  plains  of  Louisiana  or 
Texas.  In  the  intermediate  areas  the  culture 
includes  wheat,  barley,  oats,  potatoes  and 
other  cereals  and  vegetables  common  to  the 
temperate  zone.  Along  the  Sinu  River  is  a 
great  cattle  belt.  This  is  also  the  source  of 
the  cedar  and  mahogany,  of  which  Colombia 
is  one  of  the  chief  exporters. 

It  follows  naturally  that,  as  in  Ecuador, 
the  diversity  in  altitude  that  accounts  for 
this  varied  productiveness  gives  to  Colombia 

380 


COLOMBIA 

— a  wholly  tropical  country — a  range  in  cli- 
mate that  makes  it  one  of  the  world's  most 
attractive  abiding  places.  Von  Humboldt  is 
quoted  as  saying  that  the  traveler  here  needs 
but  "a  thermometer  and  a  mule  to  find  any 
climate  desired  within  the  compass  of  a  few 
leagues."  When  one  tires  of  the  torrid  heat 
of  the  valleys,  the  frozen  sierras  are  just  in 
sight.  When  the  perpetual  spring  of  the 
table-land  palls  upon  him,  he  can  by  a  few 
hours'  ride  find  autumn  on  the  steppes  above 
or  summer  in  the  plains  below.  If  he  is  a 
sportsman,  he  can  find  his  game  among  many 
species  of  the  fauna  of  three  zones:  the  jaguar, 
sloth,  armadillo,  tapir,  the  red  deer,  black 
bear,  and  panther,  and  in  'the  jungles  of  the 
Amazon  region,  the  tiger. 

The  overland  route  to  Bogota  from  Quito 
lies  over  a  well-built  highway  which,  in  the 
not  distant  future,  will  be  paralleled  by 
Colombia's  and  Ecuador's  contributions  to 
the  long-heralded  Pan-American  railway 
from  New  York  to  Buenos  Aires.  Up  to  the 
present  time  Colombia  has  had  but  six  hun- 
dred miles  of  railways:  the  little  system 
radiating  from  the  capital  and  connecting  it 
with  the  Magdalena  River,  and,  through  that 

381 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

natural  highway,  with  the  Caribbean  ports, 
and  the  short  lines  that  run  inland  from  the 
ports  of  both  oceans;  for  Colombia  is  the 
only  country  in  South  America  that  borders 
on  both  the  Pacific  and  the  Atlantic. 

The  traveler  who  enters  the  country  in  the 
saddle  over  the  route  mentioned  will  profit 
more  than  by  sailing  up  the  Pacific  coast 
from  Guayaquil  and  entering  through  the 
port  of  Buenaventura.  The  journey  along 
the  lofty  heights  and  down  through  the  lovely 
green  valleys  will  not  only  give  him  much 
more  of  the  inspiring  Andean  scenery,  but  will 
make  him  acquainted  with  the  country  and 
village  life  which  he  could  not  see  at  close 
range  otherwise.  But  he  will  have  to  sacri- 
fice many  familiar  comforts  on  the  altar  of 
education.  The  posadas,  or  village  inns,  at 
which  he  must  stop  are  mere  adobe  huts  with 
dirt  floors,  and  none  but  rawhide  cots  are 
offered  for  his  rest.  The  few  dishes  served  at 
these  primitive  hostelries  are  plentifully  sea- 
soned with  garlic,  saffron,  and  morones,  or 
red  peppers.  The  early  hours  of  the  journey 
will  bring  the  traveler  in  conflict  also  with  the 
all-pervading  philosophy  of  manana  (to-mor- 
row), and  his  progress  will  be  slow.  How- 

382 


COLOMBIA 

ever,  the  unfailing  good  humor  of  his  mule- 
teer will  do  much  to  dispel  his  exasperation  at 
delays,  and  he  will  find  himself  more  and 
more  repaid  for  his  discomforts  by  the  splen- 
dor and  beauty  and  strangeness  through 
which  he  is  making  his  way. 

Passing  over  the  bleak,  frozen  paramos,  or 
mountain  deserts,  wrapped  in  awful  stillness 
by  the  great  peaks  rising  above  them,  the 
scene  suddenly  changes  as  the  road  descends 
along  the  heavily  wooded  slopes  and  the 
country  becomes  alive  with  verdure  and  the 
sounds  of  birds.  Below,  in  a  still  more  sum- 
mery clime,  lies,  perhaps,  a  beautiful  little 
lozenge-shaped  valley  fringed  about  up  the 
sides  of  the  mountains  with  coffee  plantations 
and  groves  of  bamboo,  or  some  other  scene 
even  more  picturesque — and  then,  over  equally 
sudden  changes  and  different  pictures  of  na- 
tive life,  the  traveler  goes  on  until  there  begin 
to  appear  extensive  plantations  with  well 
built  houses  and  farm  machinery,  and,  finally 
reaches  the  railway,  which  takes  him,  not  un- 
regretfully,  from  his  guide  and  carries  him  up 
into  the  lofty  sabana — the  great  altaplain  on 
which  Bogota,  the  capital,  is  located.  This 
plateau  is  a  level  plain,  about  seventy  miles 

383 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

long  by  about  thirty  in  width,  containing 
some  two  thousand  square  miles  of  cleared, 
arable  land.  It  lies  87^00  feet  above  the  sea  in 
the  very  heart  of  the  Eastern  Cordillera,  just 
below  the  fifth  degree  of  north  latitude,  and 
ranges  in  temperature  from  fifty-nine  to 
sixty-five  degrees  Fahrenheit  the  year  around. 
From  this  plateau  the  descendants  of  the 
Spanish  conquerors  have  administered  the 
country  since  1538.  The  sabana  is  now  cov- 
ered with  prosperous  plantations  belonging  to 
rich  Bogotanos. 

Bogota  lies  on  the  eastern  border.  When 
Quesada,  its  founder,  set  foot  on  the  sabana, 
he  was  struck  by  its  resemblance  to  the  broad 
plain  of  Santa  Fe,  in  his  native  Granada, 
on  which  the  armies  of  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella encamped  during  the  siege  that  was  to 
put  an  end  to  the  power  .of  the  Moors  in 
Spain.  He  therefore  called  the  new  capital 
Santa  Fe  de  Bogota,  and  New  Granada  be- 
came the  name  of  the  northern  viceroyalty 
which  was  carved  out  of  the  Viceroyalty  of 
Peru  in  1717.  Both  names  have  disappeared. 
The  capital  has  reverted  to  its  ancient  Indian 
name  of  Bogota,  and  the  name  of  Granada, 
perpetuated  until  1861  in  the  name  of  the 

384 


COLOMBIA 

Republic  of  New  Granada,  was  succeeded  in 
that  year  by  that  of  the  present  Republic  of 
Colombia. 

The  site  of  the  present  city,  some  twelve 
miles  southeast  of  the  ancient  Chibcha  capital, 
was  the  location  of  the  little  Indian  village  of 
Tensaquilla,  the  pleasure  resort  of  the  Zipas, 
nestling,  like  the  Spanish  city  of  Granada, 
at  the  foot  of  two  mountains — Monserrate 
and  Guadelupe.  Down  these  mountains 
tumble  the  little  streams  that  make  up  the 
near-by  Funza  River,  which  spreads  out  over 
the  plain  and  then  plunges  down  into  the 
upper  waters  of  the  Magdalena.  On  the 
far  side  of  this  great  river  runs  the  Central 
Cordillera,  some  ninety  miles  west  of  the 
capital,  and  on  clear  days  the  giant  white- 
topped  volcano,  Tolima,  18,400  feet  high,  and 
the  Mesa  de  Herveo,  but  sixty  feet  lower — 
constituting  the  culminating  points  in  Co- 
lombia— are  plainly  visible. 

The  traveler's  first  impressions  of  Bogota- 
are  those  of  surprise  and  admiration — sur- 
prise at  finding  so  large  a  city  (150,000  in 
population)  perched  high  up  in  the  Andes, 
fully  "six  hundred  miles  from  anywhere;" 
and  admiration  of  the  surpassing  natural 

385 


THROUGH    SOUTH   AMERICA 

beauty  of  its  locality.  His  next  impression 
is  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  conservative,  quiet 
and  restful  places  on  earth — conditions 
greatly  to  be  appreciated  after  his  long, 
eventful  journey.  The  discovery  is  soon 
made  that  Bogota  possesses  a  climate  that 
is  simply  perfect,  and  a  highly  educated  and 
accomplished  society,  that  boasts  for  the 
capital  the  appellation  of  "the  Boston  of 
South  America."  Like  Quito,  Bogota  is  old, 
and  being  so  far  inland  and  inaccessible,  its 
Tibet-like  seclusion  for  centuries  has  bred 
within  its  higher  circles  an  aristocratic  caste, 
somewhat  arrogant  but  always  suave,  kindly, 
and  hospitable.  In  this  eddied  fragment  of 
the  old-world  Spain,  the  old  ceremonious 
forms  of  address — "Your  servant  who  kisses 
your  hand,"  and  that  hospitable  assurance, 
"Aqui  tiene  su  casa"  with  which  even  the 
chance  acquaintance  is  made  to  feel  at  home, 
as  in  his  "own  house" — do  not  seem  incon- 
gruous, as  they  would  in  Spanish  cities  in 
closer  contact  with  the  outer  world. 

The  streets  of  the  city  run  eastward  up  the 
slopes  of  a  wide  avenue  cut  along  the  sides 
of  the  mountain,  and  are  crossed  at  right  an- 
gles by  others  running  north  and  south.  The 

386 


OVERLOOKING    BOGOTA. 


COLOMBIA 

blocks  thus  formed  rise  one  above  another 
like  the  benches  of  a  great  amphitheater,  over- 
shadowed by  the  peaks  of  Monserrate  and 
Guadelupe.  On  the  crests  of  these  peaks 
stand  two  massive  cathedrals.  One  wonders 
why  great  temples  were  built  in  such  inac- 
cessible locations,  and  why,  with  over  thirty 
more  cathedrals  and  churches  in  the  city,  they 
were  needed  at  all.  They  can  be  reached  only 
by  pedestrians,  and  then  only  after  some 
three  hours  of  hard  climbing;  no  one  ever 
lived  near  them,  and  the  bleak,  icy  paramo 
beyond  is  uninhabitable.  Like  the  cross,  how- 
ever, their  presence  is  objectively  effective 
in  this  very  religious  community. 

The  city  is  now  well  lighted  by  gas  and 
electricity  and  is  beautified  by  three  large 
plazas  and  many  smaller  parks,  in  nearly  all 
of  which  the  Bogotanos  have  erected  hand- 
some bronze  statues  to  the  soldiers  and  states- 
men of  the  republic.  The  great  central  plaza 
bears  the  name  of  Bolivar,  and  on  a  high 
pedestal  in  its  center  stands  a  bronze  figure 
of  the  Great  Liberator,  his  sad,  thoughtful 
face  turned  as  if  in  mute  reproach  toward  the 
old  executive  mansion,  where,  for  a  brief 
reign,  he  ruled  the  destinies  of  Colombia, 

387 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Venezuela,  and  Ecuador,  then  united  in  his 
ill-starred  Colombian  confederation.  From 
a  window  in  that  mansion  he  once  leaped,  at 
midnight,  to  escape  the  hand  of  an  assassin, 
raised  against  him  because  the  people  dis- 
trusted his  rule  and  permitted  themselves  to 
forget  his  inestimable  services  to  the  country. 
On  the  north  side  of  the  plaza  stands  the 
new  capitol  building,  a  plain  but  well-pro- 
portioned structure  of  white  granite;  on  the 
east  is  the  fine  old  metropolitan  cathedral, 
and  adjoining  it,  on  the  same  side,  is  the  an- 
cient palace  of  the  Spanish  viceroys,  now, 
however,  used  for  shops  and  offices.  Near 
the  western  outskirts  of  the  city  is  the  exten- 
sive Plaza  de  los  Martiros,  so  named  in  com- 
memoration of  the  patriots  executed  on  its 
site  by  the  royalist  general,  Morillo.  Al- 
though beautifully  laid  out  and  made  into  an 
attractive  pleasure  ground,  it  has  always  been 
shunned  by  the  people,  for  it  was  a  veritable 
Golgotha  during  the  revolution,  and  was  used 
as  the  execution  ground  until  the  early  six- 
ties, when  capital  punishment  was  abolished 
in  Colombia.  Not  a  great  way  from  the  tragic 
spot  is  another  noted  place  now  called  Nin- 
guna  Parte  (literally  "Nowhere").  It  is 

388 


COLOMBIA 

rather  a  disreputable  part  of  the  city  in  these 
days,  but,  when  General  William  Henry 
Harrison  resided  there  as  United  States  Min- 
ister, in  1827,  it  was  a  fashionable  district. 
The  old  house  in  which  he  lived  is  still  pointed 
out,  as  is  the  still  older,  and,  if  possible,  still 
more  dilapidated,  house  occupied  by  Baron 
von  Humboldt  during  his  year's  sojourn  in 
Bogota.  On  the  northern  side  of  the  little 
Plaza  de  las  Nieves  stands  the  city's  oldest 
landmark — the  house  built  by  Quesada. 

It  would  be  idle  to  attempt  to  enumerate 
the  grand  old  monasteries  and  convents  of  the 
city.  Many  of  them  occupy  entire  squares. 
Since  the  political  upheaval  of  1860,  generally 
known  as  the  "Mosquera  Rebellion,"  these 
edifices  have  ceased  to  be  church  property. 
Some  are  now  used  as  schools  or  hospitals, 
others  as  hotels,  armories,  and  barracks; 
many  are  now  occupied  as  government  offices 
— the  National  Mint,  the  National  Military 
Academy,  the  Post  Office,  the  War  and  Navy 
Departments,  and  the  noted  Rosario  College. 

The  traveler's  descent  from  the  Bogota 
sabana  to  the  Magdalena  on  his  departure 
from  the  country,  will  store  his  memory  with 
vistas  of  grandeur  and  beauty  that  will  never 

389 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

be  effaced,  for  the  Upper  Magdalena  valley 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world.  By 
the  old  mule  path  to  Honda,  the  head  of  nav- 
igation for  big  steamers  on  the  Magdalena, 
by  way  of  La  Mesa,  Tocaime,  and  Jirado, 
one  will  be  traveling  over  a  route  that  for 
centuries  was  the  great  thoroughfare  for 
peon  or  viceroy,  and  is  to-day  practically  un- 
changed in  the  scenes  that  make  it  interesting. 
But  one  can  now  go  by  rail  from  Bogota  to 
Girardot  on  the  Magdalena,  some  eighty 
miles  above  and  south  of  Honda,  thence  by 
small  steamer  to  Arrancapluma,  where  a 
short  railway  trip  is  made  around  the  Honda 
Rapids  to  La  Dorada,  about  twenty  miles 
north  of  and  down  the  river  from  the  town 
of  Honda.  At  La  Dorada  the  five  hundred 
mile  journey  northward  down  the  Magda- 
lena to  the  Caribbean  is  made  in  one  of  the 
regular  steamers  that  cover  this  service.  The 
river  trip  is  full  of  interest,  for  the  wild 
stream,  nearly  as  large  as  the  Mississippi, 
flows  with  great  rapidity  throughout  its 
course,  and  has  a  most  varied  aspect.  For 
miles  it  spreads  out  in  a  calm,  placid  sheet  of 
water  several  miles  in  width,  then  whirls  over 
a  series  of  rapids,  or  forms  into  whirlpools, 

390 


COLOMBIA 

or  later  races  through  a  narrow  mountain 
gorge;  and,  in  consequence  of  its  eccentrici- 
ties, the  channel  is  constantly  changing,  to  the 
great  inconvenience  of  pilots. 

At  Calamar,  about  seventy-five  miles  from 
the  mouth,  the  traveler  may  exchange  the 
steamer  for  the  railroad  to  the  port  of  Carta- 
gena, or  continue  down  the  Magdalena,  now 
greatly  increased  in  volume  by  the  confluence 
of  the  almost  equally  large  river  Cauca,  to 
the  two  important  Caribbean  ports  at  the 
mouth,  Barranquilla  and  Sabanilla.  The 
first  part  of  the  trip  from  Bogota  to  Giradot 
reminds  one  of  the  mountain  scenery  over 
the  Oroya  road  up  into  the  Andean  plateau 
from  Lima.  Constantly  before  him,  in  the 
distance,  are  the  lofty  frozen  peaks  of  To- 
lima,  San  Ruiz,  and  Herveo,  towering  above 
their  fellows  in  the  Central  Cordillera.  On 
either  side  of  the  Magdalena,  the  slopes  of 
the  two  ranges  in  their  lower  reaches  are 
dotted  with  coffee  plantations;  above  them, 
reaching  to  the  altitude  of  the  paramos,  the 
mountain  sides  are  thickly  overgrown  with 
forests,  and  down  in  the  river  basin,  in  the 
hollow  of  the  broad  valley,  the  brilliant  green 
of  varied  tropical  vegetation  continues,  on 

391 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

past  the  point  where  the  Central  and  Western 
Cordilleras  merge  in  the  llanos,  down  to  the 
Caribbean  coast  plains;  here  the  Magdalena 
basin  spreads  out  over  a  vast  area  of  barren 
waste. 

Barranquilla,  Sabanilla,  and  Cartagena  are 
the  important  commercial  centers  of  the  re- 
public on  the  Caribbean,  the  last-named  being 
one  of  the  oldest  and  most  interesting  of  the 
historic  old  ports.  Founded  in  1533  by  Don 
Pedro  de  Heredia,  this  port  was  the  most 
glorious  monument  to  Spain's  military  genius 
in  the  new  world,  and  was  properly  looked 
upon  as  the  key  to  her  great  treasure  house. 
Spain  spent  over  $60,000,000  on  its  fortifica- 
tions, a  fabulous  sum  in  those  days,  but  an 
expenditure  which  for  over  two  hundred  years 
secured  to  her  the  mastery  of  the  Indies.  To- 
day these  fortifications — the  citadel  within  the 
landlocked  harbor,  the  two  castles  dominating 
the  narrow  entrance,  the  tremendous  walls 
and  ramparts — stand  without  question  as  the 
most  picturesque  and  characteristic  survival 
of  Spain's  colonial  splendor.  Not  even  the 
perfectly  preserved  walls  of  Manila  are  more 
impressive.  The  visitor  who  walks  to-day 
through  the  narrow,  Moorish  streets  comes 

392 


A    POSADA,    OR    COUNTRY    INN,    ON    THE    ROAD    TO    BOGOTA. 


BATTLEMENTED    WALL,    CARTAGENA. 


COLOMBIA 

with  memories  of  the  fabulous  wealth  and 
the  violent  scenes  of  siege  and  bloodshed 
culled  from  romances  of  the  days  of  the 
buccaneers  that  "sailed  the  Spanish  Main." 
He  will,  however,  search  in  vain  for  the 
evidences  of  the  rich  traffic  once  centered 
here  that  gave  to  Francisco  Pizarro  the  in- 
spiration for  his  conquest  of  Peru. 

Cartagena,  "The  Heroic  City,"  from  its 
very  beginning  was  the  objective  of  every 
expedition  undertaken  to  wrest  from  Spain 
her  rich  domain  in  the  Indies;  its  fortifica- 
tions stood  as  a  perpetual  challenge  to  the 
freebooters  who  pillaged  the  Spanish  Main 
in  the  days  of  the  galleons.  This  challenge 
was  accepted  more  than  once  to  Cartagena's 
heavy  cost.  Sir  Henry  Morgan,  Robert  Vaal, 
Martin  Cote,  Du  Casse,  Sieur  des  Pointes, 
and  Sir  Francis  Drake  sacked  the  town,  and 
later  it  was  the  object  of  the  most  important 
attack  made  against  Spain  in  the  new  world 
prior  to  the  nineteenth  century,  when,  in 
1741,  the  English  Admiral  Vernon  under- 
took his  memorable  campaign  on  the  Carib- 
bean. He  assembled  at  Jamaica  29  ships  of 
the  line  and  nearly  100  transports,  carrying 
a  total  force  of  27,000  soldiers  and  sailors. 

393 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

His  siege  of  Cartagena  began  on  the  4th  of 
March  and  lasted  two  months,  and  was  at- 
tended by  enormous  losses.  The  event  is 
peculiarly  interesting  to  North  Americans 
because  of  the  fact  that  the  land  forces,  un- 
der General  Wentworth,  contained  a  contin- 
gent drawn  from  the  thirteen  English  col- 
onies in  North  America,  and  that  the  com- 
mander of  this  contingent  was  Colonel  Law- 
rence Washington,  elder  brother  of  the  im- 
mortal George.  It  was  through  admiration 
for  Admiral  Vernon's  brilliant  but  unsuc- 
cessful action  that  Washington  gave  to  his 
Virginia  estate  the  name  of  Mount  Vernon. 
"Cartagena  de  Indias,"  as  the  old  kings 
of  Spain  loved  to  call  their  "very  royal  and 
loyal  city,"  ranks  third  in  point  of  age  in 
the  new  world,  and  still  retains  more  of  its 
early  characteristics  than  any  of  the  others. 
Its  antiquity  is  everywhere  in  evidence.  Like 
the  battlements  and  castles  at  its  entrance, 
the  city  seems  to  have  been  built  of  the 
yellow-white  corral  laid  in  concrete,  which 
seems  to  be  indestructible.  If  one  could  fly 
over  it  in  an  airship,  and  look  down 
upon  its  closely  massed,  red-tiled  houses, 
and,  beyond,  upon  the  deep  green  of  the 

394 


COLOMBIA 

country-side,  with  the  exquisite  blue  effects 
of  the  Caribbean  and  the  tropic  sky,  the  city 
would  seem  gemlike  in  its  romantic  beauty. 
The  narrow  streets  of  rough  stone  are  over- 
hung at  frequent  intervals  with  the  pro- 
truding windows  and  balconies  familiar  to 
visitors  in  Lima  and  others  of  the  older 
Spanish  cities,  yet  there  is  an  individuality 
about  the  houses  here  that  is  far  more  fasci- 
nating, and  facing  the  parks  are  many  fine 
examples  of  the  old  churches  and  convents 
which  constitute  the  distinctive  architecture 
of  the  colonial  regime.  Surrounding  these 
buildings  are  luxuriant  gardens,  presenting 
a  riot  of  color,  in  which  the  peculiarly  re- 
freshing green  of  the  hot  countries  predomi- 
nates. 

Among  the  many  substantial  dwellings  oc- 
cupied by  the  wealthy  is  one  that  was  the 
seat  of  the  terrible  Inquisition  which  sat  here 
from  1610  until  1821.  San  Felipe  de  Barajas, 
an  old  castle  and  fort  lying  on  a  low  hill  over- 
looking the  city,  is  full  of  interesting  under- 
ground passages,  as  are  many  of  the  fortifica- 
tions, and  although  utterly  abandoned  and 
falling  into  decay,  is  still  a  forceful  and 
grim  reminder  of  the  mediaeval  period  of 

395 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

storm  and  stress.  On  the  top  of  another  hill, 
called  "La  Popa,"  lying  back  of  the  town, 
still  stands  the  ancient  convent  of  Santa 
Candelaria,  serving  as  a  landmark  to  mari- 
ners passing  that  way,  its  white  or  light 
yellow  buildings  being  visible  for  many  miles 
out  at  sea.  Here  the  visitor  is  shown  where 
a  buccaneer  amused  himself  on  the  occasion 
of  one  of  the  raids  by  hurling  the  nuns  over 
the  edge  of  the  perpendicular  cliff  on  which 
the  convent  stands. 

Cartagena  in  the  old  days  surpassed  Mex- 
ico, Lima,  Panama,  and  Havana  in  impor- 
tance, and  stood  forth  as  the  commercial  giant 
of  Spain  in  America;  it  represented,  as  did 
no  other  American  city,  the  pomp  and  mag- 
nificence of  her  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
century  imperialism.  Now  all  this  is  past; 
even  as  the  natural  gateway  for  Colombia's 
productiveness,  she  has  lost  her  position,  the 
North  American-built  railroad  connecting 
the  port  with  the  Magdalena  River,  at 
Calamar,  having  proved  powerless  to  re- 
store even  a  small  measure  of  her  prestige 
against  the  rising  commercial  importance  of 
Puerto  Colombia  and  Barranquilla.  The 
latter  port  has  now  become  the  entrepot  of 

396 


COLOMBIA 

commerce  with  the  interior  by  the  great 
waterway  of  the  Magdalena. 

On  the  desolate  stretch  of  Colombia's  Pa- 
cific coast  there  is  but  one  city  of  importance, 
Buenaventura.  This  is  the  busy  exchange 
that  taps  the  fertile  region  of  the  upper 
Atrato  basin,  and  when  the  Panama  Canal 
shall  have  been  opened  should  spring  into 
greater  importance  along  with  the  other  ports 
of  the  West  Coast.  In  the  interior  Colombia 
possesses  many  cities  of  considerable  size, 
ranging  from  thirty  to  sixty  thousand  inhabi- 
tants, which  are  centers  for  the  mining  and 
agricultural  districts  —  Pamplona  in  the 
mountains  near  the  Venezuela  frontier,  Bu- 
carmanga,  a  little  to  the  west,  Mompoz,  near 
the  confluence  of  the  Cauca  and  Magdalena, 
once  a  port  on  the  latter  river  but  now,  owing 
to  the  erratic  wanderings  of  that  stream, 
twenty  miles  east  of  it,  Medellin,  in  the 
Cauca  valley;  Popayan  and  Pasto  near  the 
head  waters  of  that  river,  and  La  Plata  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Central  Cordillera. 

The  Hon.  John  Barrett  and  Hon.  Will- 
iam L.  Scruggs,  both  former  Ministers  of 
the  United  States  at  Bogota,  have  written 
extensively  of  Colombia's  commercial  pos- 

397 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

sibilities  and  predict  great  strides  for  the 
hermit  republic.  "Colombia,"  writes  Mr. 
Barrett,  "is  a  wonderland  of  opportunity. 
Measured  by  the  standards  of  other  countries 
it  can  be  said  without  exaggeration  that  the 
Republic  of  Colombia,  in  proportion  to  area 
and  population,  is  the  richest  of  all  in  the  va- 
riety and  extent  of  undeveloped  resources, 
fullest  in  promise  for  future  growth  and  re- 
ward to  mankind."  "Colombia,"  he  continues, 
is  at  our  very  doors;  it  is  nearer  to  the  prin- 
cipal ports  of  the  United  States  than  any 
other  South  American  country,  and  yet  we 
have  done  little  to  study  her  internal  wealth 
or  to  take  part  in  her  foreign  commerce." 
The  country  is  only  nine  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  away  from  us;  from  Cartagena  to 
Tampa,  Florida,  the  distance  is  less  than 
from  New  York  to  St.  Louis.  The  foreign 
trade  of  Colombia  last  year  amounted  to 
$26,000,000,  in  which  the  United  States  par- 
ticipated to  the  extent  of  only  $11,000,000. 

Mr.  Scruggs  says  in  closing  his  interesting 
work  on  Colombia:  "Such  is  the  country  as 
nature  has  made  it — picturesque,  beautiful, 
and  exceedingly  rich  and  varied  in  undevel- 
oped resources.  As  yet  man  has  done  very 

398 


COLOMBIA 

little  for  it,  the  greater  part  being  still  un- 
broken wilderness.  .  .  .  The  commercial  pos- 
sibilities of  the  country  are  almost  incalcu- 
lable; and  the  time  is  probably  not  very  re- 
mote when  the  fact  will  be  more  fully  realized 
by  the  great  commercial  powers  of  the  world." 


399 


XI 


VENEZUELA 

AT  the  end  of  his  "swing  around  the 
circle"  of  South  American  countries 
(having  begun  with  Brazil),  the  trav- 
eler comes  to  Venezuela — the  huge  republic 
that  bulges  out  into  the  northernmost  nub  of 
the  continent,  where  the  terminal  ranges  of 
the  Andes  turn  eastward  to  meet  the  great 
Guiana  Highlands  and  form  those  high-flung 
ramparts  that  protect  the  fertile,  low-lying 
Amazon  plaiijs  from  the  Atlantic.  This 
black,  mountainous  front  runs  along  the 
Caribbean  coast  line  for  some  fifteen  hundred 
miles,  broken  at  intervals,  however,  where 
the  lovely  blue  of  the  tropical  sea  sweeps 
inland  to  meet  the  bright  green  of  some  great 
river  basin. 

Southward,  Venezuela  spreads  down  over 
an  irregularly  shaped  territory  extending 
from  twelve  degrees  north  latitude  to  the 
equator.  Her  varied  topography,  too,  pro- 

400 


VENEZUELA 

duces  almost  every  change  of  climate,  from 
the  cold  of  the  mountains — some  of  whose 
peaks  reach  high  enough  to  earn  the  title  of 
nevada — down  through  the  temperate  zone 
of  the  llanoSj  or  rolling  plains  that  slope  off 
into  the  great  Orinoco  basins,  where  wheat, 
corn,  and  cattle  abound,  and  the  country's 
great  staples,  coffee,  cotton,  and  tobacco  are 
grown,  to  the  hot  Orinoco  jungles  that  trail 
off  to  the  south,  where  rubber  and  cacao  trees 
luxuriate  without  cultivation,  and  sugar  cane, 
oranges,  fruits,  and  pineapples  thrive  in  the 
clearings.  More  than  half  of  Venezuela's 
territory  may  be  ignored  from  the  commercial 
standpoint  of  to-day,  for  it  is  either  Alaskan 
or  Amazonian  in  character  and  can  be  re- 
served for  later  needs  of  the  human  family 
if,  as  Humboldt  prophesied,  the  Amazon 
valley  should  become  the  feeding  ground  of 
mankind. 

No  description  has  ever  done  justice  to  the 
beauties  of  Venezuela's  landscape  of  moun- 
tain and  valley  and  mighty  rivers,  of  warm 
green  pastures  and  blue  skies,  and  the  mystic 
shimmering  white  of  an  occasional  snow- 
capped peak.  The  country  that  so  appeals 
to  the  traveler's  interest  is  nearly  six  hun- 

401 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

dred  thousand  square  miles  in  area,  and  could 
include  within  its  confines  the  States  of  Iowa, 
Wisconsin,  Michigan,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and 
Ohio.  Its  mountainous  coast  saw  the  begin- 
ning of  the  European  invasion  of  the  new 
world.  Columbus,  Vespucci,  and  Ojeda 
touched  here.  Ojeda  gave  the  country  its 
name.  When,  on  his  way  west  from  the 
Orinoco,  he  rounded  Cape  San  Roman  and 
turned  into  the  Gulf  of  Maracaibo,  he  saw 
Indian  villages  composed  of  houses  built  on 
piles  in  the  water  along  the  shores,  which  sug- 
gested something  of  a  resemblance  to  Venice, 
and  he  called  the  place  Venezuela  (Little 
Venice) ;  and  soon  the  whole  coast,  and  even- 
tually the  country  beyond,  became  so  known 
— a  region  larger  than  all  Italy  and  Spain 
combined.  This  coast  and  the  white-walled 
cities  nestling  in  the  heights  among  the  mag- 
nificent trees  formed  the  storied  Spanish 
Main. 

Cumana,  in  the  middle  east,  is  the  oldest 
European  settlement  in  South  America;  it 
was  in  its  old  church  that  Las  Casas  preached 
— the  saintly  priest  who  was  the  Indian's 
ablest  champion  in  the  early  days  of  Spanish 
devastation,  but  who,  with  regret  be  it  said, 

402 


VENEZUELA 

is  reputed  also  to  have  been  the  father  of 
African  slavery  in  the  new  world,  for  it  was 
he,  so  the  chroniclers  say,  who  suggested  that 
negroes  be  imported  to  labor  in  the  fields 
and  mines  and  relieve  the  Indians  of  a  burden 
they  were  both  temperamentally  and  physi- 
cally unfitted  to  bear.  Venezuela  was  the 
birthplace  of  the  resistance  to  Spain's  oppres- 
sion of  her  colonies,  and  of  Miranda,  Bolivar, 
Sucre,  and  the  fiery  young  patriot,  Yanez — 
the  men  who  led  the  van  of  that  resistance. 
Through  her  land  flows  one  of  the  world's 
greatest  rivers,  the  Orinoco,  with  its  four 
thousand  miles  of  navigable  waters.  The 
vast  productiveness  of  the  country  and  its 
stores  of  mineral  wealth  are  sufficient  to  sus- 
tain twenty  times  its  present  population  of 
two  millions  and  a  half.  And,  finally,  Vene- 
zuela is  nearer  to  us  than  any  other  country  in 
South  America. 

A  most  agreeable  route  for  the  traveler 
leaving  Colombian  ports  for  Venezuela  is  by 
the  steamers  which  zigzag  around  the  Carib- 
bean Sea  for  ten  days  or  more  on  the  way  to 
Europe,  and  touch  at  many  of  the  once  fa- 
mous old  ports  before  reaching  La  Guayra, 
the  sea  gateway  to  Caracas.  Immediately 

403 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

after  leaving  Colombian  waters  and  round- 
ing the  Guajira  peninsula,  the  ship  enters 
the  great  Gulf  of  Maracaibo,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  in  extent  from  east  to  west, 
and  sixty  miles  from  north  to  south.  Passing 
along  in  through  a  narrow  strait,  the  almost 
equally  large  Lake  of  Maracaibo  swells  out 
before  the  traveler.  This  great  body  of  water 
drains  an  extensive  basin  lying  between  two 
terminal  spurs  of  the  Andes — the  Sierra  de 
Parija  and  the  Sierra  Merida — and  into  it 
flow  many  rivers  having  their  source  in 
the  surrounding  mountains.  Inside,  on  the 
east  bank  of  the  strait,  lies  the  city  of 
Maracaibo,  now  one  of  the  most  important 
centers  on  the  north  coast,  for  here  is  shipped 
the  produce  of  the  vast  fertile  region  of 
western  Venezuela — coffee,  cacao,  tobacco, 
castor  beans,  hardwood  timber,  and  dye  woods. 
Much  of  the  produce  of  the  eastern  slope  of 
Colombia  also  finds  its  way  to  Europe  and 
the  States  through  this  port;  fully  half  of 
what  is  known  in  our  markets  as  "Maracaibo 
coffee"  is  really  a  Colombian  product. 

The  tropical  scenery  of  the  plains  sloping 
down  to  the  lake,  and  the  mountains,  with 
their  suggestion  of  snowy  freshness,  make 

404 


VENEZUELA 

the  setting  of  this  port  one  of  the  most 
interesting  on  the  continent.  A  dozen  or 
more  of  the  peaks  in  the  Merida  range  are 
snow-capped,  and  two  of  them — Concha  and 
Coluna — rise  to  a  height  of  over  fifteen  thou- 
sand feet.  Years  ago  a  passing  visitor  to 
Maracaibo,  mistaking  the  discomforts  of  the 
humidity  and  heat  for  general  dissolution, 
pronounced  the  place  "the  graveyard  of  Eu- 
ropeans." Such  hasty  judgment  is  a  great 
injustice,  for  the  rate  of  mortality  here  is 
less  than  in  many  of  the  other  tropical  ports. 
Rounding  the  eastern  enclosure  of  the 
Gulf,  the  Paraguana  peninsula,  the  traveler 
comes  upon  the  quaint  old  town  of  Coro, 
founded  in  1527,  and  one  of  the  very  first  of 
the  European  settlements.  It  was  this  town 
that  the  governor,  sent  out  by  the  Germans  to 
whom  the  King  of  Spain  at  first  leased  the 
country,  made  his  capital,  and  from  which  he 
undertook  his  disastrous  expeditions  in  search 
of  El  Dorado.  Afterward,  until  1576,  it  was 
the  seat  of  Spain's  government  of  the  colony, 
and  is  now  the  capital  of  the  State  of  Falcon. 
Here,  also,  Miranda  made  his  first  resistance 
to  Spanish  misrule  at  the  beginning  of  the 
revolutionary  war.  Coro  is  but  a  few  miles 

405 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

south  of  the  Dutch  Island  of  Curacao,  that 
most  picturesque  fragment  of  Amsterdam 
perched  on  a  coral  rock. 

Sweeping  out  eastward  over  the  sea,  as  if 
in  continuation  of  the  Merida  range,  is  the 
Cordillera  de  la  Silla  (the  "Saddle  Range"), 
which  terminates  abruptly  at  Cape  Codera. 
Midway  between  this  cape  and  Coro,  lies 
the  important  seaboard  city  of  Puerto  Ca- 
bello.  Its  environment  is  not  only  remark- 
ably attractive — like  an  oasis  to  the  traveler 
who  has  sailed  along  the  bleak  coast  range 
for  many  hours — but  it  is  to-day  one  of  the 
finest  harbors  in  the  world,  as  it  was  in  the 
days  of  the  early  navigators,  who  said  of  it 
that  "a  vessel  is  safe  here,  anchored  by  a  sin- 
gle hair  (cabello)"  The  city  is  connected  by 
rail,  over  the  Silla  Cordillera,  with  the  pros- 
perous little  city  of  Valencia,  some  fifty 
miles  distant,  and  thence,  by  waters  of  Lake 
Valencia,  with  Cura  and  other  important  in- 
land towns  which  are  commercial  centers  of  a 
large  part  of  the  region  that  slopes  inland 
from  the  coast  range.  Puerto  Cabello  is, 
therefore,  the  export  depot  of  the  States  of 
Carabobo,  Lara,  and  Zamora,  three  of  the 
most  productive  commonwealths  of  the  Ven- 

406 


VENEZUELA 

ezuelan  federal  union.  It  was  once  a  ren- 
dezvous of  the  buccaneers  and,  later,  the  scene 
of  General  Paez's  astonishing  night  attack 
on  the  Royalist  forces  during  the  revolution, 
when,  with  his  small  command,  he  forced  the 
surrender  of  General  Calzada's  entire  army. 
To-day  the  city  has  a  population  of  about  ten 
thousand,  and  many  modern  improvements — 
electricity,  water  supply,  well-paved  streets, 
and  a  number  of  attractive  new  buildings, 
that  harmonize,  however,  with  the  fine  old 
plazas  and  colonial  residences. 

Eastward,  some  sixty-five  miles  toward 
Cape  Codera,  and  halfway  the  length  of  the 
Silla  range,  the  traveler  sights  the  great  peak 
of  Picacho  rising  from  the  water's  edge  to  a 
height  of  over  seven  thousand  feet.  Along 
this  promontory,  on  a  narrow  strip  of  beach, 
are  scattered  groups  of  sixteenth  century 
houses,  white  and  red-topped  for  the  most 
part;  some  of  them  nestle  inland  in  coves  of 
the  mountains  or  look  over  the  blue  Carib- 
bean from  shelves  of  the  cliffs  above.  This  is 
La  Guayra,  the  seaport  of  the  republic's  cap- 
ital. High  above,  overhanging  the  business 
center  of  the  town,  stands  the  ancient  and 
picturesque  Spanish  fortress  of  early  colonial 

407 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

days,  and  just  below,  on  another  bench  of 
rock,  is  the  old  bull  ring.  Overlooking  all, 
on  a  high  bluff,  are  the  ruins  of  the  old 
castle  which  was  the  residence  of  the  Captain- 
General  during  the  Spanish  regime.  To 
those  who  have  enjoyed  Kingsley's  great  his- 
torical novel,  "Westward  Ho !  "  the  old  ruins 
will  have  a  romantic  interest,  for  it  was  from 
the  walls  of  this  fortress-castle  that  Amyas 
Leigh  escaped  after  his  vain  attempt  to  rescue 
the  Rose  of  Devon. 

Baron  von  Humboldt  said  that  there  is  but 
one  place  in  the  world  that  can  rival  La 
Guayra  in  the  splendor  of  its  setting — Santa 
Cruz  de  Teneriffe,  which  points  one  of  the 
Canary  Islands  off  the  Moroccan  coast.  La 
Guayra  is  now  all  business,  but  not  business 
of  the  feverish,  bustling  kind,  as  the  vis- 
itor will  find,  after  an  entire  morning  spent 
in  passing  from  one  leisurely  official  to  an- 
other in  the  effort  to  enter  the  country.  The 
port  usually  serves  the  traveler  merely  as  a 
landing  place  on  his  way  to  Caracas.  If  for 
any  reason,  however,  he  should  prefer  to  de- 
lay his  visit  to  the  capital,  he  would  do  well 
to  run  up  the  coast  some  three  miles  east  of 
the  port  city,  to  the  pleasant  little  watering 

408 


VENEZUELA 

place,  Macuto,  the  resort  of  the  leisure  class 
of  the  near-by  capital. 

Caracas  is  but  seven  miles  inland  from  the 
port  as  the  crow  flies,  but  the  actual  distance 
by  rail  is  twenty-two  miles.  The  steep,  wind- 
ing road  was  started  by  American  enterprise, 
and  at  a  cost  of  over  $100,000  per  mile.  It 
is  now  controlled  by  Englishmen,  and  so 
great  is  the  traffic,  that  the  little  line  never 
fails  to  be  busy.  For  two  hours  the  train 
zigzags  up  the  perilous  ascent  to  a  height  of 
three  thousand  feet  before  it  turns  sharply 
around  a  dizzy  precipice  and  enters  the  beau- 
tiful valley  of  Caracas.  Until  this  turn  is 
made  the  traveler  is  rarely  ever  shut  off  from 
the  gorgeous  blue  of  the  Caribbean.  So 
superb  is  the  constantly  changing  view,  that 
he  will  feel  more  than  repaid  for  the  sensa- 
tions of  giddiness  that  may  assail  him  as  the 
train  swings  around  the  many  curves  on  the 
route,  and  the  yawning  chasms  overlooked 
from  the  car  windows  are  but  added  beauties 
to  the  scene,  instead  of  death  traps,  for  so 
excellent  is  the  construction  and  so  efficient 
the  management  that  there  has  never  been 
an  accident  along  the  entire  length. 

Caracas  is  usually  much  on  the  visitor's 
409 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

mind  during  the  days  of  his  approach.  His 
mental  picture  doubtless  will  have  been  col- 
ored from  some  newspaper  cut  of  a  dirty, 
tatterdemalion  crew,  entitled  "The  Presi- 
dent's Body  Guard,"  or  by  some  equally  de- 
ceptive idea  of  chaotic  civic  affairs.  But  he 
will  by  this  time  have  learned,  from  his  visits 
to  other  Venezuelan  centers,  that  this  charm- 
ing and  progressive  country  has  been  greatly 
maligned  by  our  North  American  press.  He 
will  be  entirely  reassured  the  instant  the  train 
comes  to  a  stop  and  he  descends  at  the  clean, 
pleasant  little  station  and,  in  cab  or  trolley 
car,  enters  the  fine  old  Spanish  metropolis, 
rich  in  creature  comforts,  dignity,  history, 
and  civic  pride.  The  population  of  the  city 
now  exceeds  70,000,  in  which  there  is  but  a 
very  small  percentage  of  citizens  of  foreign 
birth. 

Unquestionably  Caracas  is  one  of  the  most 
delightful  places  of  residence  in  the  world. 
It  lies  in  a  valley  three  thousand  feet  up  from 
the  sea,  on  either  side  of  which  towers  a  range 
of  mountains,  one  about  seven,  the  other  nine 
thousand  feet.  The  tropical  heat  is  tempered 
to  a  springlike  mildness  by  the  high  altitude, 
and  the  luxuriant  fertility  resulting  from  the 

410 


VENEZUELA 

misty  rains  wafted  down  from  the  mountains, 
make  of  the  city  and  its  environs  a  garden  of 
astonishing  beauty.  One  old  gentleman,  re- 
tired from  the  British  diplomatic  service  after 
many  years  in  Caracas,  preferred  to  end  his 
days  here,  where,  he  said,  it  was  "but  a  step 
to  Paradise." 

The  city  is  laid  out  in  the  usual  Spanish 
colonial  scheme — in  streets  running  at  right 
angles  to  each  other,  forming  blocks  of 
nearly  uniform  size.  Prior  to  the  liberation 
from  Spain,  the  streets  bore  names  expres- 
sive of  the  dominant  influence  of  religion 
— names  that  seem  strange  to  us  now: 
Encarnacion  del  Hi  jo  de  Dios  (Incarnation 
of  the  Son  of  God),  Dulce  N ombre  de  Jesus 
(Sweet  Name  of  Jesus),  Presentation  del 
Nino  Jesus  en  el  Templo  (Presentation  of 
the  Child  Jesus  in  the  Temple),  Huido  a 
Egypto  (Flight  to  Egypt),  and  many  others 
of  like  import — a  custom  prevalent  in  most 
of  the  ancient  cities  of  Spain  and  her  col- 
onies, and  one  which  still  prevails  in  Cuba. 
Fronting  on  the  narrow,  paveless  streets  are 
the  plastered,  red-tiled  houses  found  in  all 
North  Andean  cities;  behind  the  bars  the 
pretty  Venezuelan  girls  look  out  from  their 

411 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

cloistered  seclusion  with  the  same  wistfulness 
that  is  noted  in  Bogota  and  Lima. 

The  House  of  Congress  is  on  the  road  to 
everywhere;  inside  it  the  decorations  and 
frescoes  are  exceptionally  fine,  and  perpetuate 
many  of  the  principal  events  in  the  life  of  the 
nation.  Miraflores,  the  appropriately  named 
home  of  Venezuela's  president,  is  open  to  vis- 
itors at  certain  hours.  In  the  Panteon,  to 
the  north  of  the  city,  repose  the  remains  of 
Bolivar  in  a  superb  tomb  of  Parian  marble. 
Upon  it  stands  a  statue  of  the  Liberator, 
wrapped  in  his  military  cloak — a  noble  and 
dignified  figure.  In  front  of  the  cathedral  is 
the  broad  Plaza  Bolivar,  in  the  center  of 
which,  amidst  a  profusion  of  tropical  plants, 
rises  the  equestrian  statue  of  the  nation's 
hero.  Another  may  be  seen  in  Bolivar  Park, 
on  which  front  several  federal  buildings;  the 
coins  bear  Bolivar's  name,  and  the  largest 
state  of  the  Union,  as  well  as  its  capital, 
Ciudad  Bolivar,  is  similarly  honored — every- 
where throughout  the  republic  his  name  is 
revered  as  is  Washington's  with  us.  In  the 
museum  of  the  University,  in  a  room  kept 
sacred  as  the  "Holiest  of  Holies,"  are  dis- 
played the  Liberator's  clothing,  saddle,  boots, 

412 


VENEZUELA 

and  spurs,  and  many  relics  intimately  con- 
nected with  his  brilliant  career.  Among  them 
is  a  portrait  of  Washington,  sent  him  by 
Custis,  bearing  the  inscription,  "This  picture 
of  the  Liberator  of  North  America  is  sent  by 
his  adopted  son  to  him  who  acquired  equal 
glory  in  South  America." 

The  white  group  of  buildings  of  the  Var- 
gas Hospital,  on  the  heights  near  the  city, 
presents  a  beautiful  picture  against  the  moun- 
tains in  the  background.  This  is  one  of  the 
most  extensive  and  best  equipped  in  America 
— either  North  or  South.  In  the  Academia 
de  Bellas  Artes  are  displayed  the  works  of 
Michelena,  a  son  of  Caracas,  whose  paintings 
have  obtained  an  international  reputation, 
and  many  other  pictures  by  native  artists 
from  which  one  may  get  a  good  idea  of  the 
great  scenic  beauty  of  Venezuela. 

Although  there  are  no  active  volcanoes  in 
Venezuela,  the  country  has  been  subject  to 
many  destructive  earthquakes,  notably  in 
1812,  when  Caracas  was  nearly  destroyed  at 
a  cost  of  some  twelve  thousand  lives.  As  a 
consequence  of  the  constant  presence  of  this 
menace,  the  buildings  of  the  capital  are  al- 
most uniformly  of  one  story.  From  the 

413 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Monte  Calvario,  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city, 
the  general  aspect  is  flat  and  monotonous,  but 
a  walk  through  the  broader  avenues  and  the 
fifteen  or  more  parks  and  plazas,  gives  to  the 
visitor  vistas  of  foliage  and  flowers  that  leave 
on  his  mind  the  impression  of  a  lovely  gar- 
den. 

The  capital  is  connected  by  railway  with 
Puerto  Cabello,  via  Lake  Valencia.  This  is 
the  attractive  scenic  route  that  is  made  a 
part  of  the  Caribbean  excursions  offered  by 
the  steamship  lines  each  winter.  The  road 
passes  through  indescribably  beautiful  moun- 
tains and  llanos — alternating  wooded  slopes 
and  meadows,  and  richly  productive  fields  of 
maize  and  wheat.  Frequent  stops  are  made 
at  the  stations  of  important  plantations  or 
the  busy  centers  of  this  great  agricultural 
region:  La  Victoria,  San  Mateo,  and  Valen- 
cia, the  last-named  a  modernized  city  of  forty 
thousand  inhabitants  and  the  capital  of  the 
State  of  Carabobo,  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  miles  from  Caracas. 

Turning  back  along  the  coast,  eastward, 
and  passing  the  last  of  the  coast  ranges,  the 
Carib  mountains,  which  taper  off  to  the  sharp 
point  of  the  Paria  peninsula,  the  traveler 

414 


VENEZUELA 

comes  to  the  Island  of  Trinidad,  which  helps 
to  enclose  the  Gulf  of  Paria.  This  island  is 
now  a  British  possession  and  is  famous  for 
its  asphalt  lakes;  it  is  also  the  point  at  which 
Columbus  stopped  on  his  third  voyage  and 
met  the  fresh  waters  from  the  Orinoco  delta, 
thus  becoming  convinced  that  he  was  con- 
fronted by  a  great  continent.  He  gave  the 
island  its  name  when  he  observed  from  his 
masthead  the  three  high  peaks  on  its  north- 
ern coast. 

The  deltaic  region  of  the  Orinoco  River 
basin  extends  for  about  four  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  in  a  southeasterly  direction  from 
the  mountain  ridge  on  the  Paria  peninsula  to 
the  British  Guiana  highlands,  and  covers  an 
area  of  seven  thousand  square  miles.  Here 
the  traveler  enters  a  country  of  wild,  tropical 
forests,  mangrove  swamps  and  mazelike 
waterways,  teeming  with  strange  bird  and 
animal  life — practically  the  same  now  as  when 
it  was  a  primeval  land  of  mystery  that  ter- 
rified the  first  navigators. 

The  delta  is  made  up  of  fifty  or  more 
channels  emptying  into  the  Atlantic  north 
of  the  main  stream  of  the  Orinoco.  The 
region  is  entered  by  the  Royal  Mail  through 

415 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

the  central  channel,  or  Macareo  River.  The 
service  of  ocean  steamers,  however,  extends 
as  yet  only  as  far  as  Ciudad  Bolivar,  about 
six  hundred  miles  from  the  mouth,  although 
the  river  is  navigable  for  smaller  vessels  as 
far  as  Apures  rapids — over  a  thousand  miles 
up  its  course  on  the  Colombian  frontier.  For 
fifteen  hundred  miles  the  wonderful  stream 
extends  into  the  continent,  draining  a  terri- 
tory of  three  hundred  and  sixty-four  thou- 
sand square  miles.  With  its  numerous  afflu- 
ents, the  Orinoco  affords  four  thousand  three 
hundred  miles  of  navigable  waters  for  the 
service  of  this  vast  region.  The  main  river 
rises  in  the  Parima  Mountains,  which,  with 
the  Pacarima  range,  form  the  frontier  with 
Brazil.  Near  its  source  it  is  tapped  by  the 
Casiquiare,  the  remarkable  river,  which  flows 
in  two  directions  and  connects  the  Orinoco 
with  the  Rio  Negro,  an  affluent  to  the 
Amazon. 

The  traveler  entering  the  Orinoco  from  the 
sea  never  forgets  his  first  impressions.  There 
is  a  weird  grandeur  about  the  forests  that 
cannot  be  described — the  magnificent  trees, 
closely  grouped  and  undergrown  with  tropical 
jungle  plants  that  create  a  dense  shadow  land 

416 


VENEZUELA 

of  mystery  that  is  made  ever  more  awe-inspir- 
ing to  the  uninitiated  by  the  startling  cries  of 
the  jaguar  and  puma  and  the  queer  howling 
of  the  monkeys.  The  leaves  are  thick  and 
moist,  and  tinted  a  deep  rich  green,  but  glisten 
brightly  in  the  high  lights;  the  foliage  never 
loses  that  freshness  and  brilliance  which  is 
assumed  in  our  northern  woodlands  only  in 
the  lovely  season  of  early  spring.  Hence 
the  darker  tones  blending  with  the  flitting 
shafts  of  sunlight  develop  a  play  of  color 
effects  of  never-ending  delight  to  the  lover 
of  nature.  Countless  creepers,  decked  with 
gorgeously  colored  blossoms  along  the  water 
sides  and  where  the  sun's  rays  penetrate, 
twine  themselves  around  the  great  tree  trunks. 
In  many  places  natural  bowers  are  thrown 
up,  that  display  a  beauty  and  symmetry  which 
could  not  be  surpassed  by  the  most  consum- 
mate art.  Flame-colored  flamingoes,  chatter- 
ing parrots  and  myriads  of  strange  birds  of 
brilliant  plumage,  enhance  the  beauty  of  the 
scene  and  add  a  welcome  touch  of  life,  yet 
serve  to  confirm  the  stranger's  impression  that 
he  has  wandered  into  some  enchanted  realm. 
South  of  the  Orinoco  there  is  a  gradual 
rise  to  the  Guiana  Highlands,  which  are  as 

417 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

yet  sparsely  populated  and  but  little  given 
over  to  cultivation;  this  hilly  country,  con- 
stituting about  half  of  the  republic's  area, 
ascends  in  uneven  ridges  to  the  higher  alti- 
tudes of  the  Brazilian  frontier  ranges.  North 
of  the  river  the  rolling  plains,  or  llanos,  sweep 
inland  from  the  Atlantic  between  the  Guiana 
highlands  and  the  coast  ranges  like  a  great 
green  arm  of  the  sea — past  the  Merida  sierra 
and  the  western  escarpment  of  the  highlands, 
to  merge  in  the  hot  plains  of  the  Amazon 
region.  These  llanos  do  not  correspond  ex- 
actly with  the  Argentine  pampas;  they  un- 
dulate and  ascend  gradually  from  the  river 
bottoms  to  an  elevation  of  over  three  hundred 
feet,  whence  they  continue  up  into  the  foot- 
hills. They  are  thus  known  as  llanos 
altos,  or  upper  plains,  and  llanos  bajos,  or 
lower  plains.  The  llanos  present  a  diversified 
aspect,  with  much  broken  ground  and  heavily 
wooded  tracts  near  the  upper  courses  of  the 
Orinoco  affluents,  and  clothed,  in  some  of  the 
lower  stretches,  with  rich  tropical  vegetation. 
In  this  fertile  agricultural  and  grazing 
country  lies  a  great  source  of  future  wealth 
of  the  nation,  for  although  coal  and  iron  have 
been  discovered  within  its  boundaries  in  prac- 

418 


VENEZUELA 

ticable  quantities,  Venezuela's  production, 
aside  from  asphalt,  is  chiefly  confined  to  cof- 
fee, cacao,  tonka  beans,  sugar,  cotton,  indigo, 
rubber,  cereals,  cattle,  hides,  aigrette  plumes, 
sarsaparilla  and  other  medicinal  plants,  cab- 
inet woods,  and  fruits.  Gold  has  been  mined 
since  the  earliest  colonial  times.  Venezuela 
also  possesses  several  of  the  world's  most  im- 
portant asphalt  deposits.  "While  the  'pitch 
lake'  of  Trinidad,  a  surface  a  mile  and  a  half 
across  of  pure  asphaltum,"  says  the  Pan 
American  Bulletin  (of  July,  1911),  "is  per- 
haps the  most  remarkable  occurrence  of  this 
mineral  in  nature,  the  lake  of  Bermudez, 
which  covers  a  thousand  acres  in  the  old  state 
of  Bermudez,  Venezuela,  is  fast  equaling  the 
first  in  commercial  importance.  Asphalt  is 
also  found  in  the  Perdanales  district  as  well 
as  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Maracaibo,  and  as 
an  indication  of  the  value  of  Venezuelan 
bitumen,  we  have  the  fact  that  this  special 
variety  is  used  to  protect  the  tunnels  of  the 
New  York  Subway."  The  foreign  trade  of 
Venezuela  in  1910  was  valued  at  $30,336,122, 
the  great  bulk  of  which  was  with  Europe. 
Her  purchases  from  us  amounted  to  but 
$3,788,539. 

419 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

The  population  of  Venezuela  is  made  up 
of  Indians,  mestizos,  and  unmixed  descend- 
ants of  the  Spanish;  but  few  North  Ameri- 
cans are  settled  in  the  country  thus  far,  in 
spite  of  its  nearness  to  the  United  States.  A 
better  acquaintance  between  our  people  and 
the  Venezuelan  land  of  promise  should  re- 
sult from  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal. 
This  most  desirable  consummation  will  oper- 
ate to  the  benefit  of  both  peoples,  for,  being 
but  six  days  from  New  York  and  four  from 
Charleston,  the  flow  of  the  country's  trade 
should  turn  our  way  with  increasing  volume 
as  our  merchants  become  familiar  with  the 
ports  of  the  Spanish  Main  en  route  to  the 
canal.  So  far  Venezuela  is  almost  wholly 
unknown  to.  us.  Less  than  ten  years  ago,  a 
bill  was  introduced  in  our  Congress  to  con- 
solidate the  diplomatic  missions  to  the  repub- 
lics of  Venezuela  and  Guatemala,  under  the 
impression  that  the  countries  were  adjacent! 
and  during  the  debate  one  member  arose  and 
asked  in  all  seriousness,  "Where  is  Ven- 
ezuela, anyhow?" 

Like  Brazil,  Argentina,  and  Mexico,  Ven- 
ezuela is  a  federation  of  states.  In  this  re- 
spect it  differs  from  the  other  Latin  American 

420 


VENEZUELA 

republics,  except  Brazil.  -  Its  government  is 
modeled  closely  on  our  own,  although  more 
centralized,  the  governors  of  the  states  being 
appointed  by  the  federal  executive.  The 
country  is  on  a  gold  basis;  its  national  debt 
is  not  excessive;  its  administration  of  the 
postal,  telegraph,  and  customs  services  is 
efficient  and  progressive,  and,  underlying  the 
whole  structure,  is  the  sure  guarantee  of  in- 
exhaustible wealth.  With  each  new  crisis  in 
her  history,  Venezuela  has  advanced  to  a 
higher  plane,  and  has  maintained  her  footing. 
The  men  who  have  lifted  her  up  the  steps  of 
her  career — Bolivar,  Paez,  Vargas,  Guzman 
Blanco,  Crespo,  and  the  little  Andean  general 
who  has  recently  come  again  into  interna- 
tional notice  after  a  brief  eclipse,  Cipriano 
Castro — have  been  honest  in  their  purpose 
and  patriots  first,  whatever  they  may  have 
been  in  their  private  lives.  Many  other  names 
may  be  written  on  her  roll  of  fame:  the  ro- 
mantic, but  visionary,  Miranda,  the  fiery 
young  patriot  Yanez,  and  the  Venezuelan  of 
all  others  who  survived  the  revolution  with- 
out question  or  reproach — Bolivar's  great 
lieutenant,  Sucre,  who  became  the  first  presi- 
dent of  Bolivia. 

421 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

Of  all  her  latter  day  sons,  Guzman  Blanco 
accomplished  most  for  his  country.  After 
serving  in  the  diplomatic  corps  in  Europe, 
he  returned  in  1870  able  to  assume  the  su- 
preme authority  with  an  understanding  of 
the  needs  of  his  disordered  country  and  the 
knowledge  and  forcefulness  with  which  to 
supply  them.  During  his  practical  dictator- 
ship of  eighteen  years,  he  ruled  with  a  rod  of 
iron;  he  enriched  himself  and  his  favorites, 
and  stamped  his  personality  ineradicably  on 
the  country,  it  may  be — but  he  made  Vene- 
zuela a  thriving  country.  He  beautified  and 
practically  rebuilt  the  capital,  subsidized  and 
fostered  the  railroads,  opened  the  door  to 
foreign  capital  and  traders  who  learned  to 
believe  in  his  stable  government,  and  im- 
proved the  ports.  Under  his  energetic  ad- 
ministration the  production  of  coffee  reached 
phenomenal  proportions ;  shipping  made  rapid 
progress;  the  population  increased  in  normal 
ratio,  and  the  homes  of  the  people  improved 
in  every  way.  The  work  he  did  lasted. 

Castro,  also,  worked  hard  to  build  up  a 
spirit  of  nationalism  with  which  to  withstand 
the  impositions  of  foreign  governments,  whose 
citizens  in  many  instances  had  sought  by 

422 


VENEZUELA 

fraudulent  claims  to  enrich  themselves.  He, 
too,  won  a  good  fight  and  in  some  respects 
advanced  Venezuela  to  a  higher  place  in  the 
family  of  nations.  His  patriotism  has  been 
made  grotesque  in  our  public  press,  but  those 
who  know  him  well  have  no  doubt  that  it  was 
sincere.  He  is  well  born  and  able  and  has 
shown  many  of  the  elements  of  statesmanship. 
Venezuela  unquestionably  has  suffered  in- 
justice at  the  hands  of  European  govern- 
ments, and  of  our  own,  in  the  demands  they 
have  sought  to  enforce  oh  behalf  of  adven- 
turers who  have  attempted  to  exploit  the 
country  to  their  own  advantage  and  without 
regard  to  her  interests — notably  in  the  cases 
of  her  dispute  with  Great  Britain  over  the 
boundary  with  British  Guiana,  and  the 
French  cable  company. 


423 


XII 

THE   GUIANAS 

ON  the  northeastern  shoulder  of  the 
continent  lies  a  huge  block  of  terri- 
tory as  large  as  France  and  Spain 
combined.  It  is  in  reality  an  island,  since  it 
is  bounded  on  the  north  and  east  by  the 
Caribbean  Sea  and  Atlantic  Ocean,  on  the 
south  by  the  Amazon  River,  and  on  the  north- 
west and  west  by  the  continuous  waterway 
formed  by  the  Orinoco,  the  Casiquiare  and 
the  Negro  rivers,  the  last  named  an  affluent 
of  the  Amazon.  Like  the  north  Andean 
republics,  the  Guiana  country  is  made  up 
of  mountains,  highlands,  and  low-lying  plains, 
and  lies  wholly  in  the  tropics;  its  produc- 
tiveness thus  embraces  nearly  every  cereal 
and  vegetable  found  in  the  three  great  zones 
of  the  earth. 

Guiana  was  discovered,  named,   and  first 
occupied  by  the  Spanish  in  the  very  begin- 

424 


THE    GUIANAS 

ning  of  things  in  South  America.  It  ac- 
quired fame  in  the  latter  part  of  the  six- 
teenth century  as  one  of  the  regions  in  which 
the  home  of  El  Dorado  was  supposed  to  be 
located — the  fateful  will-o'-the-wisp  that  was 
chased  by  the  early  fortune  hunters  all  over 
the  region  from  the  mountain  fastnesses  about 
Bogota,  in  Colombia,  to  the  Parana,  in  south- 
ern Brazil,  the  lure  which  brought  disaster 
even  to  such  men  of  intelligence  and  practical 
common  sense  as  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  and 
Sir  Francis  Drake.  The  long-sought  Lake 
Guatavita  (now  known  to  be  located  near 
Bogota),  in  whose  sacred  waters  El 
Dorado  bathed  his  gilded  body,  was  once 
supposed  to  lie  near  the  source  of  the  Ori- 
noco in  the  Parima  Mountains,  and,  indeed, 
geologists  now  contend  that  such  a  lake  did 
exist  ages  ago  in  these  mountainous  heights, 
and  it  is  unquestionably  true  that  on  the  line 
northward  from  this  point  runs  a  vein  of  gold 
richer  than  any  in  the  known  world,  and  that 
this  vein  had  been  worked  by  the  Indians 
from  time  immemorial. 

The  lure  of  the  gold,  purged,  however,  of 
its  myth,  has  survived  to  our  own  day,  for 
we  all  remember  Great  Britain's  effort,  in  her 

425 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

boundary  dispute  with  Venezuela,  to  extend 
her  Guiana  boundary  over  the  rich  gold 
fields  south  of  the  Orinoco  delta. 

Until  1624,  the  Spanish  succeeded  in  hold- 
ing Guiana  against  all  comers;  but  in  that 
year  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  gained 
a  foothold  at  the  head  of  the  Essequibo  delta, 
and  was  confirmed  in  its  possession  by  the 
treaty  of  Minister  in  1648,  at  the  close  of 
the  war  between  Spain  and  the  Netherlands. 
After  this  opening,  other  nations  made  haste 
to  share  in  a  partition  of  the  rich  territory. 
The  French  established  a  colony  at  Cayenne; 
the  English  made  a  settlement  and  called  it 
Surreyham,  after  the  Earl  of  Surrey — 
whence  the  present  name  of  Surinam — and 
eventually  the  country  was  partitioned  among 
the  five  nations:  Brazil  became  the  owner  of 
that  portion  trailing  off  southward  to  the 
Amazon  which  Portugal  had  wrested  from 
Spain,  and  which  is  now  sometimes  called 
Brazilian  Guiana,  although  it  is  an  integral 
part  of  the  United  States  of  Brazil;  France 
still  retains  Cayenne,  now  known  as  French 
Guiana;  the  Dutch  are  now  installed  in  the 
Surinam  colony,  which  came  into  their  pos- 
session at  the  time  of  the  British  occupation 

426 


THE    GUIANAS 

of  New  York,  and  is  now  called  Dutch  Gui- 
ana; Great  Britain  owns  the  three  settle- 
ments at  Demerara,  Berbice,  and  Essequibo, 
captured  in  1803  from  the  Dutch  and  after- 
ward ceded  to  her  by  the  treaty  of  1814,  and 
which  now  constitute  British  Guiana,  and, 
lastly,  Venezuela,  as  successor  to  the  title  of 
Spain,  owns  the  rest  of  the  highlands,  south 
of  Parima  and  Pacarima,  the  territory  for- 
merly known  as  Spanish  Guiana  until  the 
revolution  of  the  Venezuelan  colonists. 

British  Guiana  is  109,000  square  miles  in 
area — larger  than  the  United  Kingdom — 
and  has  a  population  of  about  300,000,  made 
up  of  150,000  negroes,  100,000  East  Indians, 
15,000  Portuguese,  10,000  British  and  Euro- 
peans, and  the  balance  of  mestizos.  It  is  di- 
vided into  three  counties,  which  correspond 
to  the  old  settlements — Demerara,  Berbice, 
and  Essequibo.  Georgetown,  the  capital,  is 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Demerara  River  at 
its  mouth.  It  is  an  attractive  port  city  of 
about  60,000  inhabitants,  heavily  shaded  with 
tropical  trees,  and  presents  the  substantial 
appearance  of  most  British  colonial  centers. 
Just  now  its  interests  are  being  rather  neglect- 
ed, but,  as  the  shipping  point  of  a  sugar 

427 


THROUGH    SOUTH    AMERICA 

area  productive  enough  to  supply  the  mother 
country,  it  could  be  developed  into  one  of 
the  great  ports  of  the  Caribbean. 

The  area  of  Dutch  Guiana  is  46,060  square 
miles,  and  its  population  numbers  about  70,- 
000.  The  capital,  Paramaribo,  is  a  city  of 
some  30,000  inhabitants,  located  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Surinam  and  Commewine  rivers, 
about  ten  miles  from  the  sea.  The  colony's 
trade  in  coffee,  cacao,  rubber,  timber,  and 
gold  has  not  yet  been  developed  to  such 
proportions  as  to  make  it  self-supporting;  it 
is  still  subsidized  by  the  mother  country. 

French  Guiana  is  known  to  us  principally 
as  a  penal  settlement.  Since  the  days  of  the 
French  Revolution,  Devil's  Island,  off  the 
coast,  has  been  used  by  the  French  govern- 
ment as  a  penal  establishment,  and  in  recent 
years  the  world  has  become  familiar  with  its 
supposed  terrors  by  reading  the  account  of 
Captain  Dreyfus's  sufferings.  Nevertheless, 
French  Guiana  has  all  the  capabilities  of  the 
other  Guianas,  and  could  be  made  richly  pro- 
ductive. Its  area  is  31,000  square  miles  and 
its  population  about  25,000;  that  of  its  cap- 
ital, the  city  of  St.  Louis,  on  the  Island  of 
Cayenne,  now  numbers  slightly  over  15,000. 

428 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

GENERAL 

A  1.0x0  THE  ANDES.  A.  Petrocokino 

ALONG  THE  ANDES  AND  DOWN  THE  AMAZON.        H.  J.  Mozant 
ANCIENT  AMERICA.  John  D.  Baldwin 

ANDES  AND  THE  AMAZON,  THE.  James  Orton 

ANDES  AND  THE  AMAZON,  THE.  Reginald  C.  Enoch 

ABOUND  THE  CARIBBEAN  AND  ACROSS  PANAMA. 

Francis  C.  Nicholas 

BETWEEN  THE  ANDES  AND  THE  OCEAN.     William  Eleroy  Curtis 
CAPITALS  OP  SOUTH  AMERICA,  THE.  William  Eleroy  Curtit 

COMMERCIAL  TRAVELER  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.          Frank  Wiborg 
CONTINENT  OF  OPPORTUNITY,  THB.  Francis  E.  Clark 

DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA,  THE.  John  Fiske 

DISCOVERY  AND  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA,  A  COLLECTION 

OF  RARE  DOCUMENTS  CONCERNING.  E.  George  Squier 

EXPLORATION  OF  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  AMAZON. 

William  Lewis  Herndon 
GREAT  STATES  OF  SOUTH  AMERICA,  THE. 

Charles  W.  Domville-Fife 

LAND  OF  TO-MORROW,  THE.     (Pamphlet.)  John  Barrett 

LATIN  AMERICA  OF  TO-DAY  AND  ITS  RELATIONS  TO  THE 

UNITED  STATES.     (Pamphlet.)  John  Barrett 

LATIN  AMERICA,  A  PRACTICAL  GUIDE  TO.  Albert  Hale 

NORTHERN     REPUBLICS     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA,     THE. 

(Pamphlet.)  John  Barrett 

ORINOCO,  UP  THE,  AND  DOWN  THE  MAGDALENA. 

H.  J.  Mozans 

OTHER  AMERICANS,  THE.  Arthur  Buhl 

PANAMA  TO  PATAGONIA.  Charles  M.  Pepper 

SOUTH  AMERICA.     (Translated.)  Antonio  D.   Ulloa 

429 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

SOUTH  AMEMCA.  A.  H.  Keane 

SOUTH  AMERICA,  HISTORY  OF.  Adnah  D.  Jonet 

SOUTH  AMERICA,  HISTORY  OF.  Charles  E.  Akers 

SOUTH   AMERICAN   REPUBLICS,  THE.  Thomas   C.   Dawson 

SOUTH   AMERICAN  REPUBLICS,  THE  INDEPENDENCE  OF. 

Francis  L.  Paxson 

SOUTH  AMERICANS,  THE.  Albert  Hale 

SPANISH   AMERICA.  Julian  Hawthorne 

SPANISH  CONQUEST  IN  AMERICA,  THE.          Sir  Arthur  Helps 


BY  COUNTRIES 

ACONCAGUA  AND  TIERRA  DEL  FUEOO.  Sir  Martin  Conway 

ARGENTINA.  W.  A.  Hint 

ARGENTINA  AND  HER  PEOPLE  OF  TO-DAY.          Ntvin  O.  Winter 
ARGENTINA,  MODERN.  W.  H.  Koebel 

ARGENTINA,  THE  REPUBLIC  OF.  A.  Stuart  Pennington 

BOLIVIA.  Marie  Robinson  Wright 

BOLIVIA,  A  HANDBOOK  ISSUED  BY.        The  Pan  American  Union 
BOLIVIAN  ANDES,  THE.  Sir  Martin  Conway 

BRAZIL  AND  THE  BRAZILIANS. 

James  C.  Fletcher  and  D.  P.  Kidder 

BRAZIL,  A  JOURNEY  IN.  Louis  Agassiz 

BRAZIL,  THE  NEW.  Marie  Robinson  Wright 

BRAZIL  OF  TO-DAY.     (Translated.)  Arthur  Dias 

CHILE,  HISTORY  OF.  Anson  Uriel  Hancock 

CHILE,  ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT.         Q.  F.  Scott  Elliot 
CHILE,  THE  REPUBLIC  OF.  Marie  Robinson  Wright 

CHILE  OF  TO-DAY.     (By  the  Chilean  Consul-General 

in  New  York.)  Adolf o  Ortuzar 

COLOMBIA.     (Pamphlet.)  John  Barrett 

COLOMBIA,  JOURNAL  OF  EXPEDITION  ACROSS  VENEZUELA  AND. 

Hiram  Bingham 

COLOMBIA,  THE  REPUBLIC  OF.  F.  Loraine  Petr« 

COLOMBIAN  AND  VENEZUELAN  REPUBLICS,  THE. 

William  E.  Scruggs 

430 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

COUNTRIES  OP  THE  KINO'S  AWARD,  THE. 

Sir  Thomas  H.  Holdich 

Cuzco  AND  LIMA.  Sir  Clements  R.  Markham 

ECUADOR,  A  HANDBOOK  ISSUED  BY.        The  Pan  American  Union 
INCAS  OF  PERU,  THE.  Sir  Clements  R.  Markham 

INCAS,  ROYAL  COMMENTARIES  ON.     (Translated.) 

Garcilaso  de  la  Vega 

ISLANDS  OF  TITICACA  AND  KOATI.  Adolf  F.  Bandelier 

PARAGUAY.     (Translated.)  E.  de  Bourgade  la  Dardye 

PARAGUAY,  A  HANDBOOK  ISSUED  BY.      The  Pan  American  Union 
PARAGUAY,  HISTORY  OF.  Charles  A.  Washburn 

PERU,  CHRONICLES  OF.     (Translated.) 

Pedro  de  Cieza  de  Leon 

PERU,  HISTORY  OF.  Sir  Clements  R.  Markham 

PERU,  HISTORIA  GENERAL.    (Translated.)     Garcilaso  de  la  Vega 
PERU,  HISTORY  OF  THE  CONQUEST  OF.  William  H.  Prescott 

PERU:   INCIDENTS  OF  TRAVEL  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  INCAS. 

E.  George  Squier 

PERU,  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW.  Marie  Robinson  Wright 

PURPLE  LAND  THAT  ENGLAND  LOST,  THE.  W.  H.  Hudson 

TRAVELS  AMONGST  THE  GREAT  ANDES  OF  THE  EQUATOR. 

Sir  Edward  Whymper 

TRAVELS  IN  THE  WILDS  OF  ECUADOR.  Alfred  Simpson 

URUGUAY.  W.  H.  Koebel 

URUGUAY,  A  HANDBOOK  ISSUED  BY.      The  Pan  American  Union 
VENEZUELA.  William  Eleroy  Curtis 

VENEZUELAN  REPUBLICS,  THE  COLOMBIAN  AND. 

William  L.  Scruggs 
VENEZUELA  AND  COLOMBIA,  JOURNAL  OF  AN 

EXPEDITION  ACROSS.  Hiram  Bingham 

WILDERNESS,  OUH  SEARCH  FOR  A.      Mary  Blair  and  W.  C.  Beebe 


431 


INDEX 


ACONCAGUA,  Mr.,  280-282,  283- 
284,  366. 

Agassiz,  Louis,  exploration  of 
Amazon  by,  139-140. 

Agriculture,  in  Brazil,  136; 
in  Argentina,  191-192;  in 
Uruguay,  235;  in  Bolivia, 
262-264;  in  Ecuador,  355- 
359;  in  Colombia,  379-380; 
in  Venezuela,  418-419. 

Alcantara,  Francisco,  42,  84. 

Almagro,  Diego  de,  38,  41, 
42,  43,  68,  75-76;  leads  ex- 
pedition into  Chile,  76;  dis- 
appointed and  repulsed  in 
Chile,  returns  to  Peru  and 
wars  against  the  Pizarro 
brothers,  79-81;  death  of, 
81 ;  followers  of,  assassinate 
Pizarro,  83-85. 

Alpaca,  the,  in  Peru,  47;  in 
Argentina,  216. 

Altar,  El,  volcano,  Ecuador, 
367. 

Alvarado,  Alonso  de,  82. 

Alvarado,  Pedro  de,  75-76. 

Amambay  Mountains,  241. 

Amazon  River,  discovery  of, 
81;  description  of,  137  ff.; 
sources  of,  in  Peruvian  An- 
des, 322. 

Andes  Mountains,  nature  of, 
in  Chile,  277-288;  railway 
through  the,  280;  in  Peru, 
321;  in  Colombia,  375-376. 

Animals  of  Amazon  country, 
141. 

Antofagasta,  city  of,  292,  293- 
295. 

Antofagasta,  Province  of,  287, 
290. 


Antofagasta-La  Paz  railway, 
261. 

Araucana  of  Ercilla,  102-103. 

Araucanian  Indians,  101  ff. ; 
wars  of  the  Spanish  with, 
102-103;  customs,  religion, 
and  dress,  104-105;  Val- 
divia's  war  with,  106-109; 
treaties  between  Spanish 
and,  110-111. 

Architecture,  styles  of,  in 
South  American  cities,  232- 
233. 

Arequipa,  city  of,  82,  332- 
333 ;  Harvard  Observatory 
at,  333-334. 

Argentina,  Spanish  conquest 
of  northern  areas  of,  112- 
113;  area  and  coast-line, 
190;  natural  resources,  191- 
192;  government,  192-193; 
population,  193;  volume  of 
trade  with  Europe  as  com- 
pared with  that  with  United 
States,  194;  division  into 
Buenos  Aires  and  "the 
Camp,"  194-195 ;  political 
history,  195-197;  rapid  ad- 
vance of,  since  1862,  197- 
198;  railways,  immigration, 
and  education  in,  198;  con- 
ditions of  life  in  Buenos 
Aires,  198-213;  "the  Camp," 
214  ff. ;  cattle,  horses,  sheep, 
goats,  etc.,  of,  216-217; 
gradual  introduction  of 
small  landholders  into,  219; 
territory  known  as  Pata- 
gonia, 223-225;  Tierra  del 
Fuego,  225;  tropical  wilds 
of  the  north,  226-227. 


433 


Asphalt  deposits,  415,  419. 

Asses,  in  Argentina,  216. 

Asuncion,  Paraguay,  241 ; 
population  and  character, 
245-246,  251-252. 

Atacama,  Province  of,  277, 
287. 

Atacames,  Ecuador,  358. 

Atahualpa,  defeat  of  Huascar 
by  and  accession  to  Inca 
throne,  59-61;  made  a  pris- 
oner by  Pizarro,  61-65;  ran- 
som paid  by,  66;  Pizarro's 
treachery  toward  and  mur- 
der of,  66-68. 

Atrato   River,  376. 

Aucasquilucha,  Mt.,  278. 

Ayacucho,  battle  of,  132. 

Aymara  Indians,  48. 


BAHIA,  State  of,  black  dia- 
monds in,  189. 

Bahia  Blanca,  city  of,  195. 

Balboa,  Vasco  NuSez  de,  22- 
25,  35,  36. 

Balsa  rafts,  Guayaquil,  363. 

Balsas,  reed  boats  on  Lake 
Titicaca,  57. 

Banana  trees,  Ecuador,  364. 

Barranquilla,  391,  392,  396- 
397. 

Barrett,  John,  Independent 
article  by,  quoted,  315;  on 
Colombia's  commercial  pos- 
sibilities, 397. 

Belem,  city  of,  137,  139,  146- 
153. 

Belgrano,  Manuel,  123. 

Belgrano,  suburb  of  Buenos 
Aires,  202. 

Bello  Horizonte,  city  of,  186- 
187. 

Benalcazar,  Sebastian  de,  76, 
92,  95,  96,  370. 

Bermudez,  asphalt  lake  of, 
419. 


Bio-bio  River,  101,  102,  105, 
106,  108,  111. 

Bitumen  from  Venezuela,  419. 

Black  diamonds,  189. 

Blanco,  Guzm&n,  422. 

JBlancos,  Uruguayan  political 
faction,  238. 

Boers  in  Patagonia,  225. 

Bogotd,  95,  383,  384,  385-389. 

Bolivar,  Simon,  123,  129;  San 
Martin's  retirement  in  fa- 
vor of,  129-130;  career  of, 
130-133;  Bolivia  named  for, 
259;  period  of  residence  in 
Bogotd,  387-388;  tomb  of, 
Caracas,  412;  relics  of,  at 
Caracas,  412-413. 

Bolivia,  Pizarro's  expedition 
into,  82;  position,  257-258; 
people,  259;  area  and  cli- 
mate, 259-260;  scenery,  261- 
262;  agricultural  produc- 
tions, 262-264;  mineral 
wealth,  264-266;  cities  and 
ruins  in,  266-274. 

Bolognesi,  Colonel,  328. 

Bomfim,  Senhor,  quoted,  175. 

Botafogo  Bay,  163,  167. 

Botanical  garden,  at  Beldm, 
150;  at  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
168-169. 

Boyacd,  battle  of,  131. 

Brandao,  Frei  Caetano,  statue 
of,  Belem,  150-151. 

Brazil,  discovery  of,  18;  ex- 
ploration of,  by  Vespucci, 
18-19 ;  secures  independ- 
ence, 133;  area  and  popula- 
tion of  present  republic, 
134-135;  international  com- 
merce, 135-136;  the  Ama- 
zon country,  137-153;  rail- 
ways, 153-154;  cities  of 
coast,  154-160. 

Brazil  wood,  19,  33. 

British,  capital  of,  invested 
in  Argentine  railways,  197- 


434 


INDEX 


198;  residing  in  Buenos 
Aires,  203;  club  life  of, 
Buenos  Aires,  207-208;  in- 
vestments of,  in  Argentine 
land,  219;  in  Patagonia, 
224;  as  investors  in  Monte- 
video, 231. 

British  Guiana,  426,  427-428. 

Bucarmanga,  Colombia,  397. 

Buenaventura,  Colombia,  397. 

Buenos  Aires,  first  settlement 
on  site  of,  113;  pride  of 
citizens  of,  in  their  city, 
194-195;  in  character  simi- 
lar to  Chicago,  198-199 ;  im- 
pressive dock  system  of, 
199-200;  commerce  of,  200- 
201;  the  aesthetic  side  of, 
201-202;  influence  of  Paris 
on  the  culture,  dress,  and 
customs  of,  202-203;  for- 
eign colonies  in,  203;  pa- 
triotism of  citizens  of,  203- 
204;  newspapers  of,  204- 
205;  places  of  amusement, 
opera,  cafe's,  etc.,  of,  205- 
206;  club  life  in,  207-210; 
the  Jockey  Club,  208-210; 
contrasts  of  prodigality  and 
destitution  in,  211 ;  nar- 
rowness of  streets,  212-213; 
expense  of  living  in,  213;  a 
well-appointed  city  in  all 
respects,  213-214. 

Buenos  Aires,  Province  of, 
197. 

Buenos  Aires,  University  of, 
198. 

Buenos  Aires,  Viceroyalty  of, 
116. 

Bull,  papal,  dividing  New 
World  between  Spain  and 
Portugal,  14,  17. 


MOUNTAINS,  241. 
Cabot,  Sebastian,  31-32. 
Cabral,  Pedro  Alvarez,  18. 


Cacao  trees,  Ecuador,  356- 
357. 

Caf6s,  at  Bel6m,  152-153;  at 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  171;  Bue- 
nos Aires,  211-212. 

Callao,  description  of,  318- 
319. 

Cape  Horn,  225-226. 

Caquetd  River,  376. 

Carabobo,  State  of,  406. 

Caracas,  Venezuela,  409-414. 

Carriage  parade,  Buenos 
Aires,  210. 

Cartagena,  Colombia,  90,  392- 
396. 

Cartier,  Jacques,  22. 

Casapalca,  town  of,  331. 

Casas,  Bartolome"  de  las,  86, 
402-403. 

Castro,  Cipriano,  421,  422-423. 

Castro,  Vaca  de,  83,  86. 

Cattle-raising,  in  Rio  Grande 
do  Sul,  186;  in  Argentina, 
191,  216;  in  Uruguay,  235. 

Cauca  River,  376,  391. 

Cauchi  tribe  of  Indians,  47. 

Caupolican,  Araucanian  chief, 
102-103,  106,  107,  108. 

Cayenne,  Island  of,  428. 

Cedar  from  Colombia,  380. 

Century  plant  in  Ecuador, 
354. 

Chacabuco,  battle  of,  125, 
279. 

Chachacomani,  Mt.,  258. 

Chaco  region,  218,  226,  240. 

Charrua  Indians,  237. 

Chaves,  Francisco,  84. 

Chibcha  Indians,  94-95. 

Chicago,  comparison  of  Bue- 
nos Aires  and,  199,  201-202. 

Chile,  Almagro  leads  a  force 
into,  76;  Valdivia  under- 
takes conquest  of,  82; 
Spanish  wars  in  attempts  to 
conquer  native  tribes  of, 
97-112;  War  of  Independ- 


435 


INDEX 


ence  in,  124-126;  proclama- 
tion of  independence  of, 
126;  the  matter  of  a  name 
for,  275-276;  shape,  loca- 
tion, and  area,  276-277; 
commerce,  277;  mountains, 
passes,  and  other  surface 
features,  278-288;  nitrate  of 
soda  deposits,  288-292 ; 
cities,  293-307;  war  be- 
tween Peru  and,  297; 
islands  of  southern,  307  S, ; 
mountain  ranges  along 
Strait  of  Magellan,  310-313. 

Chiloe,  Island  of,  286,  307. 

Chilo£,  Province  of,  286. 

Chimborazo,  Mt.,  365-366. 

Chincona  tr-;es,  263. 

Chonos  Archipelago,  307. 

Christ  of  the  Andes,  the,  222- 
223. 

Chubut,  Territory  of,  224. 

Church,  F.  E.,  "Heart  of  the 
Andes,"  by,  365. 

Cigars,  Brazilian,  159. 

Cipango,  island  of  (Japan), 
9,  14. 

Ciudad  Bolivar,  412,  416. 

Club  life  in  Buenos  Aires, 
207-210. 

Coast  Range,  Brazilian,  163- 
164. 

Coati,  island  of,  57,  336. 

Coca,  357. 

Coca  leaf,  chewing  of  the, 
262-263. 

Cochabamba,  261. 

Cochrane,  Lord,  127. 

Cocoa,  357-358. 

Coelho,  Duarte,  34. 

Coffee,  production  of,  in  Bra- 
zil, 136;  in  State  of  Sao 
Paulo,  176;  exportation  of, 
from  Santos,  182-183;  be- 
ginnings and  increase  in 
growth  of,  in  Brazil,  183- 
184;  description  of  planta- 


tions, 184-185;  production 
of,  in  Colombia,  380;  in 
Venezuela,  401 ;  Maracaibo 
coffee,  404. 

Colleges,  at  Sao  Paulo,  179. 

Colocolo,  Araucanian  chief, 
106. 

Colombia,  early  exploration 
of,  90-97;  formation  of  Re- 
public of,  131 ;  location  and 
area,  375;  mountains  and 
river  systems,  375-376;  min- 
eral wealth,  376-379;  agri- 
cultural products,  379-380; 
range  in  climate,  380-381; 
railways,  381-382;  moun- 
tain scenery,  382-384;  trip 
down  the  Magdalena  River, 
389-392;  cities  and  sea- 
ports, 392-396;  commercial 
possibilities  of,  397-399. 

Colonial  system,  Spanish,  in 
South  America,  113-120. 

Col6n  Opera  House,  Buenos 
Aires,  206-207. 

Coloradoa,  Uruguayan  politi- 
cal faction,  238. 

Columbus,  Bartholomew,  7, 
10,  15. 

Columbus,  Christopher,  7-11; 
personal  appearance,  11; 
historic  voyage  of,  11-13; 
second  voyage  of,  15-16; 
later  voyages  and  death,  16- 
17. 

Columbus,  Diego,  15. 

Coluna,  Mt.,  405. 

Commerce,  of  Argentina,  191- 
192;  at  Buenos  Aires,  200- 
201;  of  Uruguay,  235;  of 
Chile,  277;  possibilities  for, 
in  Colombia,  397-399;  of 
Venezuela,  419;  of  the 
Guianas,  427-428. 

Compilation  of  Laws  of  the 
Kingdoms  of  the  Indies, 
code  known  as,  113,  114. 


436 


INDEX 


Concepci6n,  Chile,   105,  287. 

Concha,  Mt.,  405. 

Conway,  Sir  Martin,  quoted, 
280-282,  311-313. 

Copper,  in  Bolivia,  266.  See 
Mineral  resources. 

Coquimbo,  Chile,  100,  101. 

Coquimbo,  Province  of,  287. 

C6rdoba,  city  of,  195. 

C6rdoba,  University  of,  198. 

Coro,  Venezuela,  405-406. 

Corrientes,  245. 

Cort&s,  Hernando,  30-31,  81. 

Cosmas,  Egyptian  monk,  2-3. 

Cotopaxi,  Mt.,  367. 

Council  of  the  Indies,  35,  117. 

Cucutd,  battle  of,  131. 

Cumand,   Venezuela,   402. 

Curagao,  Island  of,  406. 

Curtis,  W.  E.,  quoted,  164- 
165,  301. 

Cuzco,  founding  of,  in  12th 
century,  48;  appearance  of, 
at  time  of  the  Incas,  52; 
Pizarro's  march  on  and  oc- 
cupation of,  68-70;  descrip- 
tion of,  342-344,  349-351; 
ruins  at,  343-349. 


DARWIN,  MT.,  311. 

D'Aubigny,  quoted,  262. 

Davila,  Pedrarias,  36. 

Dawson,  T.  C.,  quoted,  6,  23, 
37,  41,  83-85,  88-89,  100- 
101,  111,  158-159,  246-249, 
250-251. 

Desiderate,  Cape,  28. 

Desolation  Island,  310. 

De  Soto,  Hernando,  43-44,  68. 

Devil's  Island,  French  Gui- 
ana, 428. 

Diamantina,  town  of,  189. 

Diamonds,  Brazilian,  189; 
black,  mined  in  State  of 
Bahia,  189. 

Dias,  Arthur,  quoted,  140. 


Dias,  Bartholomew,  7. 
Docks,  of  Buenos  Aires,  199- 

200;  of  Montevideo,  229. 
Dutch  Guiana,  426-427,  428. 


EAHTHQUAKB,  of  1859  in 
Ecuador,  368;  of  1877,  371- 
372. 

Earthquakes,  in  Venezuela, 
413. 

Ecuador,  invasion  of,  by  a 
lieutenant  of  Pizarro's,  76; 
area,  population,  and  polit- 
ical divisions,  352;  river 
systems,  352-353 ;  climate, 
353-354;  plants,  shrubs,  and 
trees,  354-358;  voyage  along 
coast  of,  360-361;  moun- 
tains, 365-372. 

Eden,  Richard,  27. 

Education,  in  Brazil,  178-180; 
in  Argentina,  198. 

El  Dorado,  legend  of,  91-96, 
425. 

Emeralds  of  Colombia,  35, 
377-379. 

Encomiendas,  system  of,  86, 
87. 

England,  commerce  between 
Brazil  and,  136;  capital 
from,  invested  in  Argentine 
railways,  197-198. 

English,  in  Valparaiso,  297. 
See  British. 

Episcopal  seminary,  Sao 
Paulo,  179. 

Ercilla,  Alonso  de,  102-103. 

Esmeraldas,  Province  of,  358. 

Essequibo,  426,  427. 

Estates  or  ranches  of  Argen- 
tina, 214-219. 

Eucalyptus  trees,  Montevideo, 
232. 

Exposition  of  1910  at  Buenos 
Aires,  198. 


437 


FEDERMANN,  NICOLAUS,  95,  96. 

Fiske,  John,  quoted,  15,  17, 
80-81. 

Forests,  of  Brazil,  136;  of 
Paraguay,  241 ;  of  southern 
Chile,  286-287,  308-310;  of 
Ecuador,  356,  363-364. 

Formosa,  territory  of,  in  Ar- 
gentina, 226. 

Fortaleza,  city  of,  154. 

Fletcher,  James  C.,  quoted, 
161-162. 

Francia,  Jose"  Rodriguez  Gas- 
par,  246-249. 

Fray  Bentos,  Liebig  Com- 
pany plant  at,  235-236. 

French,  in  Buenos  Aires,  203; 
in  Valparaiso,  297,  298. 

French  Guiana,  426,  428. 

Froward,  Cape,  311. 

Fruit-raising  at  Mendoza, 
221. 

Fuegian  Archipelago,  225-226. 

Funza  River,  385. 

GALLO,  ISLAND  OF,  39. 

Gama,  Vasco  da,   7,  16-17. 

Garcilaso,  de  la  Vega.  See 
Vega. 

Gasca,  Pedro  de  la,  89-90. 

Gaucho,  Argentine  cowboy, 
217-218. 

Georgetown,  British  Guiana, 
427. 

Germans,  steamships  of,  at 
Buenos  Aires,  200;  resi- 
dent at  Buenos  Aires,  203; 
investments  of,  in  Argen- 
tine land,  219;  in  Pata- 
gonia, 224;  in  Valparaiso, 
297. 

Gilded  Man,  legend  of  the, 
91,  425. 

Goats,  in  Argentina,  216;  in 
Uruguay,  235. 

Gold,  of  the  Incas,  54,  58,  73- 
74;  mining  of,  in  State  of 


Minas  Geraes,  187-189;  in 
Venezuela,  419;  in  the  Gui- 
anas,  425.  See  also  Min- 
eral resources. 

Gomara,  Francisco  Lopez  de, 
quoted,  54. 

Grains,  production  of,  in  Ar- 
gentina, 192. 

Gran  Chaco,  218,  226,  240. 

Great  Western  Railroad,  Ar- 
gentina, 220. 

Guadelupe,  Mt.,  385,  387. 

Guallatiri,  Mt.,  257. 

Guano  deposits,  Peru,  331. 

Guarany  Indians,  242. 

Guatavita,  Lake,  425. 

Guayaquil,  founding  of,  76; 
manufacture  of  Panamd 
hats  at,  359-360;  descrip- 
tion of  city,  360-363. 

Guayas  River,  76,  353,  361. 

Guayra,  cataract  of,   244-245. 

Guiana  Highlands,  417-418. 

Guianas,  location  and  topog- 
raphy, 424;  discovery,  nam- 
ing, and  occupation  by  the 
Spanish,  424-425 ;  Dutch, 
English,  and  other  nations 
in,  426-427;  area,  popula- 
tion, and  productions,  427- 
428. 

HANCOCK,  A.  U.,  "History  of 
Chile"  by,  cited,  103. 

Harvard  Observatory,  Are- 
quipa,  333-334. 

Hawthorne,  Julian,  quoted,  5, 
13-14,  22,  27-28,  46-49,  68, 
80-81,  89-90,  93,  104-105, 
106-109,  110-111,  112. 

Helps,  Sir  Arthur,  quoted, 
81. 

Heredia,  Pedro  de,  90,  91, 
392. 

Herndon,  W.  H.,  exploration 
of  Amazon  by,  139,  140, 
141,  144-145. 


438 


INDEX 


Herveo,  Mesa  de,  385,  391. 

Holmes,  Burton,  quoted,  161, 
172-173,  283-284. 

Honda,  Colombia,  390. 

Hope  emerald,  the,  379. 

Horse-raising,  in  Argentina, 
191,  216;  in  Uruguay,  235. 

Hospitals,  Buenos  Aires,  213. 

Houses,  in  Santiago,  305-306; 
of  Guayaquil,  361-362;  of 
Quito,  373. 

Huallaga  River,  322. 

Huarina,  battle  of,  89. 

Huascar,  Inca  sovereign,  59- 
61,  65. 

Huatanay  River,  343. 

Huayna  Capac,  45,  59. 

Humboldt,  Baron  von,  explo- 
ration of  Amazon  by,  138; 
quoted,  364,  381 ;  house  oc- 
cupied by,  in  Bogota,  389. 

IGUAZU  FALLS,  227. 

Illampti,  Mt.,  258. 

Illimani,   Mt.,   258. 

Immigration,  to  Argentina, 
198. 

Imperial,  Chile,  105. 

Inca's  Head,  the,  368. 

Incas,  extent  of  empire,  44; 
question  of  origin,  44-49  ; 
lack  of  written  records 
among,  46;  peoples  who  an- 
tedated, 46-47;  history  of, 
previous  to  conquest  by 
Spanish,  47-49;  highways  of 
the,  49 ;  worship  of  sun  and 
moon  by,  50,  57-58,  335; 
marriage  of  sovereigns,  50; 
trade  carried  on  by  water 
only,  51 ;  irrigation  of  land 
practiced  under  the,  51 ; 
common  ownership  of  land, 
51-52;  temple  and  palaces 
of,  at  Cuzco,  52-54;  differ- 
ent type  of  people  from  Pe- 
ruvian Indians  of  to-day, 


55-56;  dress,  56-57;  birth- 
place and  legend  of  birth, 
335-336. 

Indians,  of  northern  Argen- 
tina, 226;  in  El  Chaco,  240; 
work  of  Jesuits  among 
Paraguayan,  242-245 ;  na- 
tives of  Tierra  del  Fuego, 
285-286. 

Iquima,  Mt.,  278. 

Iquique,  city  of,  294. 

Irala,  Domingo,  113,  242. 

Irrigation,  practiced  by  In- 
cas, 51 ;  possibilities  of,  in 
Peru,  321. 

Islands  of  southern  Chile, 
307-308. 

Italians,  as  laborers  in  State 
of  Sao  Paulo,  184;  resident 
in  Buenos  Aires,  203;  in 
Montevideo,  231;  in  Valpa- 
raiso, 297. 

JAMACCHPPEKE  PLANT,  263. 
Jamaica,  discovery  of,  16. 
Jaques,  Christovao,  32. 
Jesuit  missions  in  the  Parana 

basin,  242-245. 
Jews,  in  Patagonia,  225. 
Jockey    Club,    Buenos    Aires, 

208^-210. 

Juliaca,  town  of,  334. 
Junm,  battle  of,  132. 
Jurujuba  Bay,  163. 

KARKAAKE,  MT.,  258. 
Koati,  Island  of,  57,  336. 
Koebel,  W.  H.,  "Modern  Ar- 
gentina" by,  218. 

LA    CONDAMINE,    explorer   of 

Amazon,  138. 
Ladrone  Islands,  discovery  of, 

by  Magellan,  28. 
Lage,  Fort,  163. 
La    Guayra,    Venezuela,    407- 

408. 


439 


INDEX 


Landed     estates    of    Spanish 

conquerors,  77,  82. 
La  Paz,  naming  of,  267-268; 

altitude    and   location,   268; 

description  of,  268-270,  273- 

274. 

La  Plata,  city  of,  195,  197. 
Lara,  State  of,  406. 
Largo     da     Polvora,     Belein, 

151-152. 

Las  Cuevas,  station  of,  222. 
La  Serena,  Chile,  287. 
Lautero,      Araucanian     hero, 

103,  107,  108;  death  of,  108- 

109. 

Lenglet,  Dr.,  quoted,  255-256. 
Leon,  Cieza  de,  quoted,  55. 
Liebig  Company's  plant,  Fray 

Bentos,  235-236. 
Lima,  founding  of,  by  Pizarro, 

74-75,    324;    attracts    other 

Spanish  adventurers,  75-76; 

description  of  modern,  325- 

330. 
Linseed,     production     of,     in 

Argentina,  191. 
Llamas,  in  Peru,  47,  340-342; 

in  Argentina,  216. 
Llanos   of   Venezuela,   418. 
Llanquihue,  Province  of,  278. 
Llulaillaco,  Mt.,  278. 
Los  Patos  Pass,  279. 
Lopez,  Carlos  Antonio,  249. 
Lopez,   Francisco,  249-251. 
Luque,  Hernando  de,  38. 

MACAREO  RIVER,  416. 

Mackenzie  College,  Sao  Paulo, 
179. 

Magdalena  River,  376;  scen- 
ery in  valley  of,  389-392. 

Magellan,  Ferdinand,  voyage 
and  discoveries  of,  25-29. 

Magellan,  Strait  of,  27-28, 
225,  310-311. 

Mahogany,  from  Colombia, 
380. 


Maize,  production  of,  in  Ar- 
gentina, 191. 

Manaos,  city  of,  144-146. 

Manco  Capac,  45,  69. 

Manco  Capac  II,  69-70. 

Mapocho  River,  99. 

Maracaibo,  city  of,  404-405. 

Maracaibo,  Gulf  of,  404. 

Maracaibo,  Lake,  404;  asphalt 
on  shores  of,  419. 

Maracaibo  coffee,  404. 

Markham,  Sir  Clements,  quot- 
ed, 53-54,  55,  346-349. 

Maule  River,  97,  101. 

Maypti,  battle  of,  126. 

Mbaracayu  Mountains,  241. 

Medellen,   Colombia,   397. 

Meiggs,  Henry,  331. 

Meiggs,  Mt.,  331. 

Mendoza,  Pedro  de,  113. 

Mendoza,  city  of,  220-221. 

Mendoza,  Province  of,  105. 

Mendoza  River,  221-222. 

Mercedario,  Mt.,  281. 

M6rida  range,  Venezuela, 
404,  405. 

Mexico,  Cort6s  in,  30-31. 

Michelena,  Venezuelan  artist, 
413. 

Minas  Geraes,  State  of,  186- 
189. 

Mineral  resources,  of  Chile, 
288;  of  Peru,  315;  of  Ecua- 
dor, 356;  of  Colombia,  377- 
379. 

Mining,  in  Brazil,  136;  in 
State  of  Minas  Geraes,  187- 
189. 

Miniquis,  Mt.,  257. 

Miranda,  Francisco,  130,  421. 

Misiones  territory  of  Argen- 
tina, 226,  227. 

Misti,  volcano,  Peru,  334. 

Mitre,  Bartolom6,  197. 

Mollendo,  city  of,  332. 

Mompoz,  Colombia,  397. 

Monserrate,  Mt.,  385,  387. 


440 


INDEX 


Montafia  region  of  Peru,  320, 
321-322. 

Monteagudo,  Bernardo,  129. 

Montesino,  Anales  d«l  Peru 
by,  quoted,  40. 

Montevideo,  229  ff. ;  compari- 
son with  Buenos  Aires,  230; 
material  prosperity  of,  230- 
231 ;  foreigners,  theaters, 
and  club  life  of,  231;  the 
Prado  Park,  231-232; 
houses,  gardens,  and  social 
life  of,  232-234. 

Montezuma,  SeSor,  31. 

Moon,  worship  of,  by  Pe- 
ruvian Indians,  50,  57-58, 
335-336,  337. 

Mosquera  Rebellion,  389. 

Mountain  sickness,  266. 

Mozans,  H.  J.,  quoted,  23-25, 
45,  57,  70,  74-75,  140-141, 
271-273,  333,  335-338,  349, 
371-372. 

Mules,  in  Argentina,  216;  in 
Uruguay,  235. 

Muzo,  emerald  mines  of,  377, 
378,  379. 

NABUCO,  JOAHIM,  175. 

Negro  River,  144,  223. 

New  Granada,  Viceroyalty  of, 
116,  384-385. 

New  Spain,  Viceroyalty  of, 
114. 

Newspapers  of  Buenos  Aires, 
204-205. 

Nictheroy,  city  of,  163. 

Nitrate  of  soda  beds,  Chile, 
288-292. 

Nombre  de  Dios,  118. 

North  Americans,  small  num- 
ber of,  in  Buenos  Aires, 
203. 

OBYDOS,  city  of,  146. 
O'Higgins,      Bernardo,      124, 
125,  126,  279. 


Oil,  production  of,  in  Argen- 
tina, 192. 

Ojeda,  Alonso  de,  20,  37; 
Venezuela  named  by,  402. 

Olinda,  suburb  of  Recife,  158. 

Opera  in  Buenos  Aires,  206. 

Orellana,  Francisco  de,  dis- 
covers and  explores  the 
Amazon,  82,  138. 

Organ  Mountains,  162. 

Orgofiez,  Rodrigo  de,  81. 

Oriente  River  system,  353. 

Orinoco  River,  401,  403;  delta 
of  the,  415-416;  entrance 
upon,  from  the  sea,  416- 
417. 

Oroya  Railroad,  330-331. 

Orton,  James,  quoted,  354, 
369. 

Ossorio,  General,  124-125. 


PACIFIC  OCEAN,  Balboa's  dis- 
covery of,  22-25;  named  by 
Magellan,  28. 

Paillamachu,  Araucanian 
chief,  109-110. 

Pampas  of  Argentina,  214  ff. 

Pamplona,   Colombia,  397. 

Panamd  Canal,  importance 
of,  to  relations  between  the 
two  Americas,  xv-xvii;  in- 
fluence on  trade  between 
Venezuela  and  United 
States,  420. 

Panama  hats,  manufacture  of, 
359-360. 

Pan  American  Bulletin,  quot- 
ed, 288-290,  377-379,  419. 

Pan  American  Union,  vii-xi; 
publications  of,  ix-x;  li- 
brary of,  x. 

Par£  (Belem),  city  of,  146- 
153. 

Para  River,  137,  147-148. 

Paraguay,  situation  and  area, 
239-240;  climate  and  sur- 


441 


INDEX 


face  features,  240-241;  for- 
ests, 241 ;  Indians  and  mes- 
tizos in,  242;  Jesuit  mis- 
sions in,  242-244;  character 
of  interior,  244-245;  stormy 
political  history  of,  246- 
251 ;  great  commercial  pos- 
sibilities of,  253. 

Paraguay  River,  245. 

Paraguay  tea,  185-186,  192, 
253-256. 

Paramaribo,  Dutch  Guiana, 
428. 

Parana^  city  of,  195. 

Parand  River,  Cabot's  explo- 
ration of,  32;  trip  on  the, 
226-227;  picturesqueness  of, 
227;  Great  Cataract  of,  244- 
245. 

Patagonia,  215,  218-219,  223- 
225. 

Patia  River,  376. 

Pearl  fisheries  of  Colombia, 
35  377 

Pedro  II  of  Brazil,  174. 

Pernambuco,  city  of,  154, 
156-157. 

Pernambuco,  colony  of,  34. 

Peru,  the  ancient  civilization 
of,  46-47  (see  under  In- 
cas)  ;  War  of  Independence 
in,  126-128;  war  with  Chile 
over  nitrate  provinces,  292; 
products  of,  in  the  world's 
commerce,  315-316;  voyage 
along  coast  of,  316-318; 
area,  surface  features,  and 
rainfall,  320-322;  popula- 
tion and  its  disposition,  322- 
323;  railways,  330-332; 
ruins  of  the  Incas  and  their 
predecessors  in,  339,  343- 
349. 

Peru,  Viceroyalty  of,  114- 
116. 

Peruvian  bark,  263. 

Petropolis,  city  of,  169-170. 


Pezuela,  Joaqum  de  la,  126- 
127. 

Picacho,  Mt.,  407. 

Pichincha,  battle  of,  131. 

Pichincha,  Mt.,  369. 

Pigs,  in  Argentina,  216;  in 
Uruguay,  235. 

Pilcomayo  River,  245. 

Pillar,  Cape,  310. 

Pizarro,  Francisco,  early  his- 
tory of,  37;  first  expedition 
of,  to  Peru,  38-42;  en- 
nobled by  the  King  of 
Spain,  42;  treacherous  deal- 
ings of,  with  Atahualpa, 
61-68;  murder  of  Atahualpa 
by,  68;  advances  to  and  oc- 
cupies Cuzco,  68-70;  takes 
possession  of  government, 
72-73;  founds  city  of  Lima 
as  his  capital,  74-75;  holds 
his  new  empire  against  Al- 
magro,  80-81 ;  assassination 
of,  by  adherents  of  Alma- 
gro,  83-85;  tribute  to  great 
qualities  of,  85;  relics  of,  in 
modern  Lima,  327. 

Pizarro,  Gonzalo,  42,  78,  80, 
81,  87-88,  90. 

Pizarro,  Hernando,  42,  75,  78, 
80,  81. 

Pizarro,  Juan,  42,  78. 

Plata  River,  26,  191,  228-229. 

Platinum  deposits,  Colombia, 
377. 

Pororoca,  the,  147-148. 

Portezuelo  de  Come  Caballo, 
279. 

Porto  Alegre,  153,  186. 

Portuguese,  as  discoverers,  5- 
7;  lands  granted  to,  in  di- 
vision of  New  World  by 
papal  bull,  14-15;  attempt 
to  colonize  Brazil,  32-34. 

Potato,  discovery  of  the,  in 
Peru,  47. 


INDEX 


Potatoes    as    a    food    among 

Peruvians,  342. 
Potosf,    silver    mines    of,    82, 

88,  265,  266. 
Prado  Park,  Montevideo,  231- 

232. 
Precious  stones,  mining  of,  in 

Brazil,  189;  in  Bolivia,  266; 

in  Colombia,  377-379. 
Prema     newspaper,    building 

of,  Buenos  Aires,  204-205. 
Prescott,  W.  H.,  quoted,  40- 

41,  69,  73-74,  343-346. 
Promaucian  Indians,  101. 
Puente  del  Inca,  222. 
Puerto     Cabello,      Venezuela, 

406,  414. 

Puerto  Colombia,  396. 
Pular,  Mt.,  278. 
Puna,  island  of,  43. 
Punta   Arenas,    city    of,   224, 

285,  311. 

QUEBRACHO  THEE,  the,  226- 
227. 

Quesada,  Gonzalo  Jiminez  de, 
92-96. 

Quichua  Indians,  47. 

Quinine,  production  of,   263. 

Quinsay,  city  of  (Pekin),  9, 
12,  15. 

Quintas,  in  Montevideo,  232, 
233. 

Quinze  Puntas  range,  241. 

Quito,  48,  363,  369,  372-374. 

Quizquiz,  Atahualpa's  gen- 
eral, 67,  70. 

RADA,  JUAN  DE  LA,  83. 

Railways,  Brazilian,  153-154; 
Argentine,  191,  220;  Eng- 
lish capital  invested  in  Ar- 
gentina, 197-198;  trans- An- 
dine,  222-223,  280;  of  Uru- 
guay, 234;  Bolivian,  261; 
Peruvian,  330-332;  of  Ecua- 
dor, 363;  of  Colombia,  381- 
382;  of  Venezuela,  409. 


Ramalho,  Joao,  33. 

Ranches,  Argentine,  214-219. 

Recife,  city  of,  153,  157-158. 

Repartimientos  of  the  Span- 
ish conquerors,  82,  86. 

Revolutions,  outgrowing  of, 
xiii. 

Ringmann,  Mathias,  21. 

Riobamba,   city  of,  370. 

Rio  Branco,  Baron,  174-175. 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  153;  the  ap- 
proach to,  160-164;  scenic 
wonders  of  bay  of,  160-164; 
description  of  city,  164  ff. 

Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  produc- 
tion of  yerba  matd  in,  185- 
186. 

Rio  Negro,  Territory  of,  224. 

Rodadero  River,  343. 

Rojas,  Diego  de,  112. 

Root,  Elihu,  quoted,  177. 

Rosario,  city  of,  195,  226. 

Rosario  College,  Bogota,  389. 

Rubber,  production  of,  in 
Brazil,  136-137. 

Rubber  estate,  description  of 
a,  149-150. 

Rubber  trees,  143. 

Ruhl,  Arthur,  quoted,  169, 
173-176,  303-305. 

Ruins,  prehistoric,  46;  of  Tia- 
huanaco,  48,  271-273;  about 
Lake  Titicaca,  338-339;  of 
Sacsahuaman,  343,  346-349. 

SABANILLA,  391,  392. 

Sacsahuaman,  ruins  of,  52,  78, 
343,  346-349. 

St.  Julian,  harbor  of,  26. 

St.  Louis,  French  Guiana, 
428. 

Salt  mines  of  Colombia,  377. 

Salta,  battle  of,  123. 

San  Francisco  Xavier  Uni- 
versity of,  267. 

Sangai,  Mt.,  366. 

San  Jose,  Mt.,  278. 


443 


INDEX 


San  Lazaro,  Church  of,  in 
Cuzco,  350. 

San  Marcos,  University  of, 
330. 

San  Martin,  General  Jose  de, 
123-124;  crossing  of  the 
Andes  by,  125-126,  279;  de- 
feats Royalist  army  in 
Chile,  126;  liberates  Peru 
from  Spanish  rule,  127-128; 
voluntary  retirement  of, 
129-130;  tomb  of,  in  Bue- 
nos Aires,  130. 

San  Miguel,  Gulf  of,  23. 

San  Rafael  Lake,  285. 

San  Ruiz,  Mt.,  391. 

San  Salvador,  Island  of,  12. 

Santa  Candelaria,  convent  of, 
Cartagena,  396. 

Santa  Catalina,  convent  of,  in 
Cuzco,  350. 

Santa  Cruz,  Bolivia,  261. 

Santa  Cruz,  Fort,  163. 

Santa  Cruz,  Territory  of,  224. 

Santa  Lucia,  hill  and  fortress 
of,  99-100,  301. 

Santa  Marta,  Colombia,  90. 

Santarem,  city  of,  146. 

Santiago,  Chile,  founding  of, 
by  Valdivia,  99-100;  men- 
tioned, 287;  description  of, 
299-307. 

Santo  Domingo,  convent  of, 
in  Cuzco,  350. 

Santos,  city  of,  153,  176,  181- 
182. 

San  Valentin,  Mt.,  284. 

Sao  Joao,  Fort,  163. 

Sao  Leopoldo,  city  of,  186. 

Sao  Luiz  de  Maranhao,  154, 
155. 

S5o  Paulo,  city  of,  176-181. 

Sao  Salvador  da  Bahia,  34, 
153,  154,  159-160. 

Sao  Vicente,  colony  of,  33. 

Sarmiento,  Domingo  Faus- 
tino,  197. 


Sarmiento,  Mt.,  311-313. 

Scots,  in  Patagonia,  224. 

Scruggs,  William  L.,  on  Co- 
lombia's commercial  possi- 
bilities, 398-399. 

Sheep-raising,  Rio  Grande  do 
Sul,  186;  in  Argentina,  191, 
216;  in  Patagonia,  224-225; 
in  Uruguay,  235. 

Silla,  Cordillera  de  la,  406. 

Silver,  from  Mt.  Potosl,  265. 
See  Mineral  resources. 

Sinu  River,  380. 

Slavery,  reduction  of  Pe- 
ruvian Indians  to,  by  the 
Spanish,  77 ;  introduction 
of  negro,  403. 

Socompa,  Mt.,  278. 

Solis,  Juan  Diaz  de,  22,  113, 
236. 

Solis  Theater,  Montevideo, 
231. 

Sorata,  Mt.,  258. 

Souza,  Martim  Alfonso  da,  33. 

Spain,  mistaken  colonial  pol- 
icy of,  in  South  America, 
113-120;  revolt  of  South 
American  countries  against, 
120-121. 

Spaniards,  numbers  of,  in 
Buenos  Aires,  203. 

Spanish  Main,  the,  402. 

Squier,  E.  G.,  quoted,  271. 

Steamships,  German,  at  Bue- 
nos Aires,  200;  on  ParanA 
River,  226. 

Sucre",  Antonio  Jos6  de,  131, 
132,  259,  266. 

Sucr6,  city  of,  266-267. 

Sugar,  beginnings  of  produc- 
tion of,  in  Brazil,  34. 

Sugar  Loaf,  peak  of,  bay  of 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  162. 

Sun,  worship  of,  by  Peruvian 
Indians,  50,  57-58,  335-336, 
337. 

Surinam,  426. 


444 


INDEX 


TABATINOA,  Brazilian  port, 
138. 

Tacna,  Province  of,  287,  290. 

Talca,  truce  of,  124. 

Tapajos  River,  146. 

Tarapaca,  Province  of,  287, 
290. 

Tehuelche  Indians,  224. 

Temple  of  the  Incas  at  Cuzco, 
52-53. 

Tensaquilla,  village  of,  385. 

Theater,  the  Amazonas,  at 
Manaos,  145-146;  the  Muni- 
cipal, Rio  de  Janeiro,  166; 
at  Sao  Paulo,  180;  the  So- 
lis,  in  Montevideo,  231. 

Theaters,  at  Belem ,  152;  in 
Buenos  Aires,  206,  207. 

Tiahuanaco,  ruins  of,  48,  272- 
273. 

Tierra  del  Fuego,  225,  285, 
311. 

Tin,  wealth  of  Bolivia  in,  265. 

Titicaca,  Island  of,  57,  336. 

Titicaca,  Lake,  45,  57,  258, 
335-338. 

Tobacco  from  Province  of 
Esmeraldas,  Ecuador,  358. 

Tolima,  volcano,  Colombia, 
385,  391. 

Tonka  beans,  Colombia,  380. 

Toparca  Capac,  69. 

Tordesillas,  treaty  of,  15. 

Toroni,  Mt.,  278. 

Torre  Tagle,  Marquis  of,  129. 

Toscanelli,  letters  of,  quoted, 
8-9. 

Trade,  restrictions  placed  on 
South  American,  by  Spain, 
118-120;  of  United  States  of 
Brazil,  135-136;  of  Argen- 
tina, 191-192.  See  also 
Commerce. 

Trans-Andean  railway,  222, 
280. 

Trees,  of  Brazil,  142,  143;  in 
Montevideo  parks,  231-232; 


of   southern    Chile,  286-287, 

309-310;    of   Ecuador,   355- 

356,  363-364. 
Trinidad,   Island   of,   16,  415, 

419. 

Trombetas  River,  146. 
Tronador,  Mt.,  284. 
Tucapel,     Araucanian     chief, 

103,  106. 

Tucumdn,  battle  of,  1§3. 
Tucuman,  city  of,  195. 
Tumbez,  Peru,  39,  41,  324. 
Tunguragua,  Mt.,  366. 
Tupungato,  Mt.,  281. 

UCATALI  RIVER,  322. 

United  States,  trade  between 
Brazil  and,  136;  smallness 
of  commerce  of,  with  Ar- 
gentina, 201;  fewness  of 
people  from,  in  Buenos 
Aires,  203;  commerce  be- 
tween Chile  and,  277;  trade 
of,  with  Colombia,  398; 
trade  with  Venezuela,  419. 

Universities  in  Argentina, 
198. 

University,  San  Francisco 
Xavier,  Sucre,  267;  San 
Marcos,  330. 

Uruguay,  228  S. ;  life  in  Mon- 
tevideo, 229-234;  nature  of 
the  country,  234-235;  com- 
merce of,  235;  favorable 
conditions  of,  for  national 
prosperity,  236;  turbulent 
political  history  of,  236- 
237 ;  bellicose  personality 
and  present-day  outlets  for, 
237-238 ;  political  factions 
in,  238. 

Uruguay  River,  32,  228,  234, 
235. 

Uspallata  Pass,  222,  279-280. 


VALDIVIA,  PEDRO  DE,  conquest 
of  Chile  undertaken  by,  82, 


445 


INDEX 


97-107;  put  to  death  by 
Araucanians,  107. 

Valdivia,  town  of,  109. 

Valencia,  city  and  lake  of, 
406,  414. 

Valera,  Father  Bias,  cited,  58. 

Valle,  Marquis  del,  31. 

Valparaiso,  101,  287,  296-299. 

Valverde,  Friar  Vincente  de, 
64. 

Vargas  Hospital,  Caracas, 
413. 

Vega,  Garcilaso  de  la,  quoted, 
52-53,  58,  61,  335. 

Vela,  Blasco  NuSez,  87. 

Velasco,  Juan  de,  370. 

Venezuela,  location  and  to- 
pography, 400-401 ;  area, 
401-402;"  naming  of,  402; 
coastwise  approach  to,  403- 
404;  towns  and  cities,  405- 
413;  earthquakes  in,  413; 
the  Orinoco  delta  and  river, 
415-417;  the  llanos,  418; 
agricultural  products,  418- 
419;  commerce  of,  419; 
government,  420-421 ; 
statesmen  and  rulers  of, 
421-423. 

Vernon,  Admiral,  siege  of 
Cartagena  by,  393-394. 

Vespucci,  Amerigo,  voyages 
of,  18-19;  the  Mundus  No- 
vus  of,  20;  the  naming  of 
the  New  World  for,  20-21; 
later  explorations  by,  22. 

Viceroyalties  of  New  Spain 
and  Peru,  114-116. 

Victoria,  city  of,  154. 

Vilcapujio,  battle  of,  123. 

Villagran,  Francisco  de,  107- 
108. 

Villa  Hayes,  240. 

Villegagnon,  settlement  at, 
168. 

Vina  del  Mar,  296,  299. 

Virgins,  Cape,  27. 


446 


Virgins   of   the   Sun,   52,   57; 

palace  of,  at  Cajamarca,  65. 
Volcanoes,   of   Chile,   278;    of 

Colombia,  385;  of  Ecuador, 

365-372. 

WALDSEEMULLER  MAP,  21. 

Washington,  Col.  Lawrence, 
394. 

Watling's   Island,   12. 

"Westward  Ho !"  reminders 
of,  408. 

Wheat,  production  of,  in  Ar- 
gentina, 192;  harvesting  of, 
in  Argentina,  218;  produc- 
tion in  Uruguay,  235. 

Wheelwright,   William,  201. 

Whymper,  Edward,  ascent  of 
Ecuadorian  peaks  by,  365, 
367;  quoted  on  the  crater 
of  Cotopaxi,  368. 

Wine  industry,  Mendoza,  221. 

Women,  Brazilian,  171-173; 
of  Buenos  Aires,  210;  of 
Mendoza,  221;  of  Monte- 
video, 234;  of  Santiago,  303, 
304;  of  Lima,  328,  329. 

Wright,  Marie  Robinson, 
quoted,  187,  188,  299-300. 

YAVAHI  RIVER,  322. 

Yegros,  General,  246,  247. 

Yerba  matt,  production  of,  in 
Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  185- 
186;  in  Argentina,  192;  in 
Paraguay,  253-256;  cultiva- 
tion of,  254-255;  beneficial 
results  from,  255-256. 

Ypiranga,  building  in  Sao 
Paulo,  178. 

Yupanqui,  Inca  ruler,  45,  48. 

ZAMORA,  State  of,  Venezuela, 

406. 

Zaruma,  mines  of,  356. 
Zenufana,  region  called,  91. 


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